We'll be the Last Ones Standing
by Luna and Lupus
Summary: Ten witches head off to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, for a whole new year of magic, fun, rule breaking, law breaking, and the occasional explosion. What they don't realize is that deep within the school, there is something much more sinister going on, and it is up to them to find out the truth even the teachers aren't willing to face. Rated T for minor language.
1. Chapter I

Rose walked down Diagon Alley for the first time in her life, her long black hair falling around her face and her brown eyes scanning the area. But this time was different. This time, Rose was there to buy school supplies. It didn't sound really exciting, but Rose had been waiting to go to Hogwarts her whole life. Besides, who didn't want to get their first wand or pet?

"I hope yer payin' this for yerself," Elizabeth stated as she walked beside her first year friend, her shoulder length brown hair tied back in a low ponytail and her eyes squinted at the area. They shoved their way through the massive crowd if witches and wizards, some of whom were also buying things for the start of school. "I sure as hell ain't lettin' you be a freeloader."

Rose sighed. "Are you sure, Liz?" Rose asked over dramatically, "I would really like it if-"

"No," Elizabeth interrupted flatly, continuing to walk.

"You didn't even know what I was going to say!" Rose whined annoyingly.

"No," Elizabeth repeated. "It's understandable in every language, an' I can relate ta it on a spiritual level. The word 'no' is beautiful."

"..."

"Hey, look," Elizabeth announced, pointing to the pet store they were about to pass. "It's the Magical Menagerie. Yer parents said ya could finally get a pet now, yeah?"

Rose brightened. "Oh my gosh, you're right! I want an owl wait, no, rats are sort of cute- or what about a cat, like yours!"

"There is not cat like mine," Elizabeth said, as she pushed open the door. "Cats are devil Spawn. Ellie is perfection. Oh wow, my unintentional pun was great. I should sign up for Britain's Got Talent."

"What's that?" Rose looked confused.

"Got Talent for the UK."

"What's that?"

"Oh. My god, Rose." Elizabeth shot her a deadpanned look. "It's- never mind, just pick a cat or whatever." She sighed. "Wizards must be missin' out on so much," she mumbled. "Imagine havin' ta explain _tumblr_ ta wizards. It's a whole new nightmare I don't wanna explore."

As Rose searched the shop for the perfect animal companion, Elizabeth wandered around, seeing if she could find any cat food. She spotted two other girls come in; a blonde one chattering excitedly to the other dark haired one, who nodded along aimlessly. Elizabeth didn't mean to eavesdrop, but- okay, yeah, so she totally meant to eavesdrop. But she was bored out of her mind and magic rats didn't provide that much entertainment, so could you _really_ blame her?

The dark haired girl finally spoke. "Okay, Kiara. You know, you should choose something cool, like my rainbow chicken!" Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows. _The hell...?_ she thought.

"According to you, it didn't even come as a rainbow chicken," the other girl, Kiara, spoke. "You turned it rainbow with a... spell?" The dark haired one just shrugged.

Elizabeth was mildly surprised. Last she had checked, a rainbow chicken wasn't a normal pet. _Hey, though,_ Elizabeth thought, _these guys have, like, magic powers 'n stuff, so anything is normal._ Elizabeth kept listening out of sheer lack of better things to do.

"Hey, Naomi," that snake is saying something. Is that normal for a witch?"

Naomi looked slightly shocked. "Are you sure he's saying something? You're not just hearing hissing noises?"

In the meantime, Rose was happily looking around the cat section of the store. The air smelled so thickly of unclean littler boxes that she sort of wished that she had a stuffed nose at the moment. "Ugh, I hope my cat doesn't smell like that," she mumbled to herself. But her mind quickly forgot all about the revolting smell when she saw the first cat. "It's **so** cuuuuuute!" she practically squealed. A few people looked oddly in her direction, but she ignored them and went to look at the cat. Rose reached her hand out to stroke the seemingly fuzzy brown hair. However, before she could get so much as a touch to it, a sharp pain singed down her finger.

"Ow!" Rose exclaimed, causing even more people to look at her. _Honestly_ , she thought, huffing, _it's like they have nothing better to do, but stare at me whenever I make a noise._ Looking at the cat's smug smile, she realized it had bitten her.

"You're a very naughty cat," Rose reprimanded it, as thought it would actually listen. Rose decided that was not the cat for her and kept on looking. After many failed attempts at petting cats, she found one that at least let her get one stroke in before moving away. Upon further examination, Rose realized it had two different coloured eyes; one a light grey, and the other a sharp blue. Reading the tag next to the cage, Alice found out that it was a male Siberian cat. "I want this one," she said to no one in particular. Rose picked him out of the crate, ignoring the cat's yelp. "Let me just go and find Liz..."

Elizabeth was torn from the two girls when Rose stroked her arm in a totally non-suggestive way. "Hey, Liz! Look! I found a cat and he's so cute and fluffy!"

Elizabeth looked at Rose, who was carrying a cat in her other arm. "Oh. Neat-o, I guess. Oh wow, it's hetero chromatic. Never seen that on a cat before." Elizabeth cringed internally at the tone of her voice. _I want to act natural and that's the best thing I can come up with?_ _Do I_ always _sound like that? I'm not even trying and it sounds sarcastic_.

"I know, right?" Rose grinned, apparently not noticing the change in her friend's voice. "It's a Siberian cat. What do you suppose I name it?"

"Satan."

"Mwahahahahhahaa, I know! Lucifurr. I'm greeeeeaaaaaat at naming things. Do you like it?" she asked, speaking to the cat in her hands. The cat meowed angrily, but Rose smiled. "Look! He likes it!"

"He looks like he's constipated," Elizabeth remarked. "Are there such things as cat laxatives?"

"Very funny," Rose responded sarcastically.

"Thank ye. I pride myself in my humour, ya know." Rose rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Rose. Pay for Satan an' let's get a move on. You still gotta buy a baguette magique- I mean, a wand."

Rose stared blankly. "What?"

"Nevermind," Elizabeth sighed. "Just pay. I have got ta stop wasting my references on a pureblood."

Rose paid for her cat and walked out the door. She and Elizabeth walked a bit before reaching Ollivander's, which was conveniently placed next door. The person who waited at the counter was not Mr. Ollivander, who, Elizabeth suddenly remembered, had died during the wizarding war a few years back. _Eh_ , she thought _, whatever. 'S not like I bought my wand here anyway. 'S weird how Brits get their wands from shops and not from the school_. Instead, a cheerful looking man introduced himself as August Park.

Whilst he busied himself with some papers (smiling strangely the whole time, Elizabeth noted), he told them that he would be right with Rose. In the meantime, Rose looked around at the shelves stacked with wands, in a sort of awe. She had never been in Ollivander's before, as she had no need of a wand, so she had no idea what to expect. She noticed a weird symbol carved into one of the shelves, a circle with lines inside of it like a peace sign Elizabeth had showed her once. ( _"It's one of those hipster things that you see everywhere. On shirts, blogs, pillows, underwear, everythin'."_ ) Each one of the little sections in the circle had a different animal on it; one with a phoenix, one with a dragon, and the last with a rearing unicorn. August saw her staring and explained.

"I carved that myself. It symbolizes the three main wand cores I use. Dragon heartstrings, phoenix feathers, and unicorn tail hair." Rose simply nodded, still drinking in the sight of all the wands.

"Let's have you try out a few wands," August told Rose, his grin never wavering. It was sort of creepy, actually. He took a thin box off from the shelf and opened it, revealing a brown wood wand, it was plain except for some small spirals near the bottom. "Give it a wave," August urged. Rose dumped Lucifurr into Elizabeth's arms and took the wand. Elizabeth grunted at the sudden extra weight placed in her. Rose felt a slight tingle go through her arm, as she held onto the wand. Excitedly, she waved the wand in the air and a wine bottle flew out of the tip. It was lucky that the bottle stayed attached to the tip, or an unpleasant alcoholic glass mess would be on the floor.

Rose stared at it. "What the frick?" Her face showed a rather large bit of confusion, as to why a wine bottle of all things would pop out of the wand. She looked at August but his face showed no surprise. It was only somewhat calming, as his constant smile led Rose to believe he was somewhat mental.

"Can I have it?" Elizabeth asked. "I always prefer whites over reds. And that's a particularly expensive brand." August stared at her, but she offered no explanation.

"Anyway," he said, "I think that's the right wand, as that was supposed to happen. Can you give me the wand please?" Rose obliged, and he waved it again, causing the bottle to disappear.

"Aww, man," Elizabeth said, disappointed. "I really wanted that."

"It's a very nice wand," he told Rose, "It's a cedar wand with a dragon heartstring core. Its twelve inches long and it has a slightly springy flexibility."

"Cool!" Rose grinned happily, and handed over the customary ten galleons. August took them silently but then started to talk again.

"You know, I once sold a wand to this man, and it was almost exactly the same but with a unicorn hair, you know? So one day-" Rose was feigning interest as the man chattered on, wondering why he seemed so desperate for someone to talk to. Elizabeth drummed her fingers on the side of her leg and pursed her lips. Her arms were growing tired from holding her school books and Lucifurr and she really wanted to get the hell outta Dodge. Finally, Elizabeth decided to cut in before he could start his next sentence.

"Excuse me, sir, I am so sorry to interrupt, but Rose and I have to meet up with some people at five. Though I really _love_ your story, I would hate to be late and leave them hanging." Lying straight through her teeth was something Elizabeth was very used to. She had no regrets either, seeing as this "August Park" fellow's French accent was driving her up the wall. She _did_ attempt to sugar coat her words, though.

"Oh..well, I guess you can go then, I..I really would hate for you to leave your friends hanging, I'm sure-"

Elizabeth just managed to refrain from rolling her eyes. "We really must be going now, sir," she said, trying her best to infuse as much fake politeness into her voice. She motioned for Rose to follow her and the two left Ollivander's. "Good god," Elizabeth breathed out. "I was suffocatin' in that place. So, now what?"

"I don't know, you're the third year not me," Rose said, taking back her cat. "I think I have all the school supplies I need, so- wait!" She was hit with an idea, "I know...we should go eat pie! Aren't I great at thinking of things to do?"

"Two things," Elizabeth said. "One: savoury or sweet pie? Because I want savoury. Two: are ya payin'?"

"But I want sweet pie!" Rose whined. "And no, I think you should pay for once."

Elizabeth made a face. "I am not up for diabetic treats, an' I don't have money to throw around so ya can eat. Although, I have been thinkin' about startin' a market inside of Hogwarts so I can sell mundane products. Like pens an' stuff."

"Ok then...let's just go eat pie. You can order whatever you like, and I'll order something else," Rose said, choosing not to comment on Elizabeth's idea.

"Do ye know a good joint aroun' here or do we have to settle for the Leaky Cauldron?"

Rose thought about it, and then answered, "I think we'll have to go to the Leaky Cauldron."

"Well, then we'd better get goin'. By the way, yer paying for both of us anyway. Yer loaded an' a cottage pie ain't gonna dent yer bank account. If it really matters, I'll pay ye back when my market is up 'n runnin'. I could make a hell lotta money sellin' pens for 10 sickles and pencils for 5 sickles a pack. That does sound pretty nice."

"Pencils?" Rose asked, sort of confused. "Aren't those the things muggles use to write? I've been told that they are very old fashioned, and are very hard to use, which is why wizards don't use them. Why would you sell them?"

"No, actually, they're super useful," Elizabeth replied. "They're a lot like quills, only ya can erase the marks. Ya need to sharpen them every now and then, but ya don't have ta buy any ink alongside that. Most elementary- er, primary schools use them. But I prefer pens."

"How did muggles accomplish that?" Rose asked confused, "That seems like you would need magic to make."

"I'm not well educated on the history of writing materials, but I'm pretty sure some random guy saw that you could write stuff with burned wood and said, 'Dang, this is the good stuff.'"

The two ambled down the streets of Diagon Alley until they reached the Leaky Cauldron. Elizabeth pushed opened the door and gestured Rose to go inside. The place was bustling with witches and wizards, from enjoying a pint to reading the _Daily Prophet_. Elizabeth looked around and thought she spotted the two girls from before. When she looked around again, they were nowhere to be seen. _That's some high level weirdo shit right there._

Shrugging it off, Elizabeth found an empty table and dragged Rose towards it. They sat down and called someone over to take their orders. "One cottage pie, an' one..." Elizabeth trailed off, waiting for Rose to finish the order.

"Blueberry pie!" Rose exclaimed, weirdly excited to eat the pie. The waiter nodded and scurried off, leaving Elizabeth and Rose with nothing to do but talk (much to Elizabeth's displeasure).

Rose was about to say something, when Elizabeth saw the two girls again, sitting down at a table a few away from theirs. "What in tarnation?" she muttered, squinting at the two girls.

"Hmm?" Rose tilted her head slightly at her friend.

"Nothing, it's just…" Elizabeth cast one last look at the two girls before turning back to Rose. She wracked her brain to find a casual conversation topic that was somewhat interesting. "Did yer parents actually dump ya here an' leave me in responsibility? If so, then they obviously need to make better decisions in their life."

"Actually, I thought your parents were coming, so I told mine that they were and, well, yeah. Your parents actually aren't here, but my parents don't know." Then, Rose grinned and flipped her hair. "I'm so coolio, right?"

"Um," Elizabeth raised both eyebrows, "yeah, no. Especially since this is, like, the only time ye've been unchaperoned. My mom- mum, whatever, got called in by St. Mungo's for an emergency an' my dad wasn't in the mood. He just gave me some sickles an' told me ta be off. I took the Knight Bus here, because drivin' from one island ta another at a speed faster than any no-maj technology is fun."

Rose gaped at her friend. "Your parents let you _do_ that?"

"Yeah, all the time. Sometimes, I take the Bus ta the States ta see my brother."

Rose opened her mouth, but got cut short by the waiter arriving with the two dishes. As they are, Rose continued to hold conversation with her friend. "For the electives, I chose Divination and Care of Magical Creatures."

Elizabeth paused, the spoon halfway to her mouth. "They let ya choose electives now? I thought that was only third years. Huh. Anyway, I chose Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, an' Runes."

"That's pretty cool."

When they finally finished her food, Rose checked the time on her pocket watch and realized that she was running half an hour late to meet her mum in front of Gringotts. "Agh, I have to go, my mum's gonna kill me!" Rose stood up quickly, grabbing Lucifurr and stuffing her school supplies in her bag. "Bye Liz, see you on the Hogwarts Express!" She ran off just as the waiter returned with the bill scribbled out on a sheet of parchment.

Elizabeth cursed under her breath and grumbled to herself about the many ways she would torture Rose as she dumped her leftover money into the waiter's hands. "That lil' sneak."

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **So! First chapter, eh? Not bad, if I do say so myself. It's fun working with Lupus, even though she's kinda...prickly.** **I tried being as meticulous as I could with the editing, and we put a lot of effort into working on this. I hope you like it!**

 **Aside from that, I'm hoping we can get a smooth update flow, since I know I hate it myself when authors take years to put up another chapter. That might be an issue, since both of us aren't the most motivated people in existence. However, we've pre-written a good handful of the chapters, but we still need to edit them, which may take some time. Not nearly as much to write them, though. Ah, I should probably just wrap this up.**

 **-Luna**

 **(P.S. I think it's easy to guess who's my favourite character of the ones introduced.)**

 **(P.P.S. #DavidWalliamsBestJudge)**

 **.**

 **So, there's chapter one, in which you meet the first two of an admittedly extensive list of characters. We've already pre-written a few chapters so hopefully updates will be quick. No promises though, as we are still students, and homework and extracurricular activities might get in the way of writing. Anyway, thanks for reading!** **  
**

 **-Lupus**


	2. Chapter II

The Hogwarts Express wailed as steam billowed out of the smokestack and to the ceiling of Platform 9 and 3/4. Loads of young students milled about, joining up with groups of friends and leaving their family members behind. Owls screeched as they were wheeled about in cages, cats purred as they sat atop of their masters' carriages, and... chicken's clucked?

Naomi's chicken, Bobette, was losing her mind, still not used to the hordes of people at the station, even if it was going to be her third year on the Express. Unaware of how bizarre of a pet she had, Naomi continued to look around, not acknowledging the confused stares she got. Her dark haired head whipped around, her eyes scanning the crowds and looking for one person in particular. Very similarly to her chicken, Naomi was going crazy waiting for her blonde friend, Kiara, to finally make an appearance. Her muggle-raised friend was late. _She's probably still trying to figure out how to get to the platform_ , Naomi thought. A faint smile graced her face at the thought of her friend stubbornly refusing to ask someone for help and trying to figure it out herself. _They really should put how to get on the platform in the letters_.

Finally, after what seemed to be hours of waiting, she heard a recognizable voice chime in behind her. "Hello!" Kiara said, waving slightly as she pushed her carriage along, her blonde hair pulled up into it's usual ponytail with loose strands flying everywhere, "Sorry I'm late, though it wasn't really my fault. Who would have thought that you needed to run through a brick wall to get onto a train? Also, my mum took ages to say goodbye. It's only one word, so I have absolutely no idea why she needed to say it a zillion times."

Naomi shrugged. "Let's get on the train. We have to get to a booth before all of them are taken." She had already said goodbye to her own mum, who had long since left, as her other three younger children were getting bored. They started walking to the train silently, Kiara nearly bursting with excitement at the thought of attending a magical boarding school. After they threw their trunks into the luggage compartments, Kiara removed her snake's cage from the suitcase and walked through the train with it. Without realizing it, she had been swinging the cage around, making the poor snake inside not the most comfortable it could have been.

When the two girls went to find a compartment, the first few they saw were completely full. It was the same thing for the others, save for the very last one they tried. Inside were two girls; one with black hair, sitting towards the door with a grey cat on her lap, and one brunette, who was leaning against the window with a white cat draped across her shoulder. The brunette squinted at Naomi and Kiara, her eyebrows furrowed.

"So, like I was saying," the blacked haired girl rambled, "this one wizarding band from Korea- uh, hello?" The girl nudged her friend in the side. "Um, Liz? Are you even listening? What is it- oh." When she turned, her eyes landed on the two of them, finally registering their presence.

Naomi cleared her throat, not meeting their gaze. "Can we sit here, please?"

The black haired girl continued to nudge the brunette, Liz, neither of them uttering a single word. After a while, Liz spoke up. "Are there no other empty booths?" she asked gruffly, her dark brown eyes narrowed in what appeared to be suspicion.

Kiara spoke this time, shifting her feet slightly, her voice quiet and timid. "No, um, this is, well, this is the only one left," she said, shaking her head and rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. In her mind, she sighed, curing her social awkwardness. She couldn't even speak to two girls without sounding like an idiot.

"Uh..." Liz pursed her lips, her eyes darting back and forth between the two. "Sure, I guess," she said begrudgingly.

"Thanks," Kiara said softly, and the two took a seat, setting their pet cages off to the side of the compartment. Everything was silent, except for the anxious sound of Kiara's foot tapping, Bobette clucking and pecking at the steel cage, and the two cats purring.

Suddenly, a strange tapping noise rang throughout the compartment. Everyone whipped their heads towards the window as Liz hastily slid up the glass panel. An small owl came tumbling in, feathers ruffled and clutching a crumpled up piece of printer paper in its beak. Liz sighed and rubbed her temples. "Wahoo," she said flatly, "ye've got the worst timin'. Ever." She proceeded to take the sheet of paper as she muttered under her breath. Kiara managed to catch the words _Ethan, too lazy, can't fold letters,_ and _memes._ Liz's eyes scanned over the letter, before she whipped out a gel pen and scribbled out a response on the back of the paper. She folded it into an elegant envelope and stuffed it back into the owl's (Wahoo's?) mouth, before dumping it out the window and watching as it flew away. Elizabeth closed the window just as the Trolley Witch came along.

"Anything off the cart, dears?" she asked, gesturing to the trolley.

"Two pumpkin pasties an' a dozen chocolate frogs," Liz said, taking a few galleons from the other girl's pocket and handing them to the witch.

"Hey!" she protested, attempting to push her friend off her.

"Rose, ya bailed me at the Cauldron," Liz said, "so I have no other choice but ta forcefully take yer money." She took the sweets and piled them neatly on her lap.

"I'll have two cauldron cakes and five boxes of Every Flavour Beans," Kiara said, handing the witch her money.

"Enjoy the rest of the ride, dears." The elderly witch closed the compartment door and the squeaking of the trolley wheels faded away. Liz proceeded to unwrap the chocolate frogs and fed them to her cat.

"You're feeding my money to your cat?" the black haired girl, Rose, gasped her face aghast. "Rude!"

"British chocolate, no offense, is horrible," Liz replied, taking a bite out of her pasty. She swallowed before continuing, "It's just sugar. American white chocolate is less sweet, an' that's comprised solely of cream. Ugh, I got another Harry Potter. I've got about six of him, but I really want a Regulus Black or a Newt Scamander. ooh, a Neville Longbottom. That's new."

"Isn't he one of our professors?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. What a nice guy. One of the most fun classes I've ever taken, ta be honest. If not for Potions, Herbology might've been my favourite. Except I'm crap with plants." Liz whipped out her wand and pointed to her wrappers. " _Evanesco_." The wrappers vanished, leaving the rest of the girls in awe. _That's a fourth year spell_ , Naomi thought, _How did she learn it? Is she somehow in Ravenclaw? I've never seen her..._

Naomi shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts before turning to Kiara. "Do you want a piece of candy?" she offered.

The next few words Kiara uttered were so quiet, they were almost drowned out by the sound of Liz chewing on a pasty, which was relatively quiet on its own. "Let's challenge each other to those random flavoured beans you gave me last time."

"Sure." Naomi opened a box of Bertie Bott's and the two took turns eating the beans. Kiara decided to go first, picking a strange orangish bean. The moment she chewed, she gagged and spat it back up, choking on air. She hacked and wheezed before finally managing to regain control of herself.

"Why would someone _make_ that?" Kiara demanded, the taste of the vomit flavoured bean still on her tongue. It took all of Naomi's self control to not burst out laughing at the sight of her friend's disgruntled face.

Naomi picked out a brownish bean next and bit into it tentatively. Her blank face morphed into one of disgust, but she managed to swallow it without gagging. "I'm not sure what it is, but I don't like it."

"Foie gras." The two girls turned and saw Liz with her head propped up on her hand and an amused expression on her face. "Y'ate liver."

"I still don't like it," Naomi declared.

"Hey," Liz said suddenly, "'pologize for the sudden intrusion, but do ya mind if I play? I'm bored outta my mind."

"Okay," Naomi shrugged, "why not?" I'm Naomi, by the way. Naomi O'Hanigan."

"And I'm Kiara Blackwell," Kiara piped up, still rather quietly.

"Collingwood," Liz replied, "Elizabeth Collingwood. Eliza or Liz, if ya can't possibly struggle all the way ta the end. Do not, on any occasion, call me Lizzie or Beth, or I will personally shank ya, gut ya, an' wear pastels to yer funeral. This is my cat, Elizabeth the Third. Ellie for short. She's a Norwegian forest cat that likes fish an' swing music." Suddenly, Elizabeth's voice turned into a falsetto. "'E _liz_ A _beth_! You, like, named your, like, cat after, like, yourself? That's, like, _soo,_ like, narcissistic. Like.'" Her voice changed back to normal when she continued. "No, I, in fact, _did_ _not_ name my cat after myself. If ya don't get the reference, it ain't worth my time ta explain it. Oh, right, I almost forgot." However, instead of introducing her friend, like Naomi and Kiara had anticipated, Elizabeth gestured to the other cat. "This is Satan. He's a Siberian."

"He's name is Lucifurr," Rose huffed, her eyebrow twitching in slight annoyance, "And I'm Rose Lynn."

"Oh, are we introducing pets?" Naomi asked. "If so, then this is Bobette." She pointed to her rainbow chicken, which started to cluck. "And next to her is Hermes, Kiara's poisonous snake."

"Venomous," Elizabeth corrected offhandedly. When Naomi shot her a look, she smiled pleasantly in a mocking demeanor.

"Good for teaching some sense to people that annoy me," Kiara quipped, unable to repress the urge to say the line.

"It can kill stuff," Elizabeth murmured, a slow Cheshire grin spreading across her face. Rose shot a concerned and uneasy glance towards her friend and moved away slightly. "If I can dilute the venom before it's injected, it'd make a great prank."

"I'll see what I can do," Kiara promised. "A good prank is cool."

"Wanna play?" Elizabeth asked Rose, gesturing to the box of Bertie's.

"Sure..." Rose eyed the box of beans warily. She had heard a few things form her brother about the beans and not a single one was good.

Elizabeth picked out a coppery coloured bean and popped it into her mouth. "Mmm." Elizabeth smiled, swallowing the bean. "Sherry."

"What's that?" Rose asked."

"A special wine made form white grapes that grow in Jerez, Spain," Elizabeth explained. "'S the best kind of wine for addin' a kick ta yer cookin'. I typically prefer it in heavy soups with cream bases."

Kiara made a face. "I was forced to have wine once and I spat it out on the owner's white carpet. Purposefully. It's disgusting."

"Gotta make sure ya get the good brands," Elizabeth shrugged. "A'ight, Rose, have at it."

Rose picked a vibrant red bean and chewed. "It's spicy, so... chili? Honestly, it's not too bad."

"Ooh!" Naomi grinned happily. "Spicy things!"

The four girls went through all of the boxes Naomi had bought during the train ride. Kiara happened to get only the most disgusting beans. Phlegm, earthworm, farm dirt, belly button lint, dog food, envelope glue, and all sorts of grotesque flavours. The opposite happened to Elizabeth, who managed to get her favourites: lemon, cinnamon, curry, mint, honey, coffee, and (not too sweet) chocolate. Rose lucked out and got blueberry pie. Naomi got all of the strange, but not necessarily bad beans; chicken, beef roast, and ham to name a few.

When there were about fifteen minutes left to the train ride, the four agreed to change into their school robes. As the four sat in the compartment, Rose rambled on about her favourite wizard band. Suddenly, Elizabeth remembered something, pulling out a book and leafing through it.

"What are you reading?" Kiara asked, looking at the inch thick leather bound book.

" _100 Useful Spells for All Wizards_ by Hermione Granger," Elizabeth answered. "I finished perfectin' most of them last year. Aha! _Muggle Cellphones In Hogwarts._ 'Inside Hogwarts, there is no router or satellite disk, nor is there a hot spot or mobile service, so accessing the internet is impossible. However, due to recent renovations, you can still use muggle devices within the walls of Hogwarts. Because there are no outlets, make sure to keep your device charged using the following spells.' Neat-o." Elizabeth pulled out a flat rectangular device that Kiara and Naomi quickly identified as a cell phone. She disassembled it and took the battery out, pointing her wand at it. " _Industriafy_ ," she said before putting the phone back together and smiling when the phone turned on and read ∞%.

Kiara grinned at it slightly, not wanting to give away too much emotion yet. "Cool, can you do it on mine? I brought it just in case."

"Kiara, I told you that phones don't work in Hogwarts," Naomi protested, "why did you...? Never mind."

She just shrugged. "I would have figured out how to get them to work, but turns out Elizabeth already did. She can do it for me instead."

Elizabeth said, "Sure, but I'm gettin' money for this, yeah?"

"Uh, no." Elizabeth sighed, but nevertheless obliged, and charge the phone up for the blonde girl.

Naomi gaped at the girl across from her. "You can't be a Ravenclaw, or I would have seen you in the common room at least once. Unless you're a first year?"

"Nah," Elizabeth laughed, waving her hand slightly, "I'm a Slytherin. But thanks for the compliment. I got sorted inta Horned Serpent back when I still went ta Ilvermorny, which is like the Ravenclaw equivalent. Ethan's still there too, an' he said I'd fit just in. Ethan's my brother, by the way. He goes ta Ilvermorny an' we use Wahoo the owl ta talk ta each other."

"That's cool," Naomi said. Elizabeth's pleasant half smile grew slightly wider. "I was impressed with how you mauled Gryffindor last year at the Quidditch Cup."

"I know, right?" Elizabeth said. "Our team's amazin'. I've been thinkin' about tryin' out after our keeper left, but I also really wanna be the commentator, since I'm not the best athlete. An' ya mentioned yer a Ravenclaw? Yer team ain't bad either."

"What's that?" Kiara asked, confusion written across her face.

"What's what?" Elizabeth asked. "Oh, yer a no-maj kid? Whaddya Brits call'em? Muggleborns?" Kiara nodded. "Ya mean quidditch or the houses?"

"Both."

"Well, quidditch is the wizard version of soccer an' baseball mashed together. There are two teams, each with seven players. They play in what's called a quidditch pitch. On the opposite side of the pitch're three elevated hoops. The players fly around on stereotypical witch broomsticks. Ya can buy those at Quality Quidditch Supplies, which is in Diagon Alley. A team is comprised of the followin' players; three chasers, two beaters, a keeper, an' a seeker. The chasers pass around a red basketball thingy called a quaffle an' try ta get in the hoops. That earns ten points for the team. The keeper is the goalie for the hoops. The beaters use flat baseball bats called clubs ta hit bowlin' balls that fly around the pitch called bludgers. They can be hit to're away from players. The seeker avoids all other players an' tries ta catch a flyin' golden walnut thing called the snitch. That earns the team one-fifty points, which's why it's so hard ta catch. The game ends once a seeker gets the snitch. Team with most points win."

"Why do chasers even try to shoot the quaffle?" Kiara questioned. "If the snitch is worth that much, why not just catch it?"

"Because in the time it takes ta catch the snitch, which can last from hours ta days, chasers can score enough points ta surpass one-fifty points," Elizabeth explained. "Such was the case when Ireland beat Bulgaria one-seventy ta one-sixty, even though Bulgaria caught the snitch durin' the Quidditch World Cup of 1994."

"There's a World Cup?" Kiara asked.

"I didn't know you were so passionate about quidditch," Rose quipped.

"That's because ya never asked," Elizabeth retorted. "And yeah, there's a World Cup every four years, like the Soccer- er, Football World Cup. Since I've been alive, not a single one of my teams has won! Norway aced the first round against Cotê D'Ivoire last Cup durin' 2014, but got his butt whooped in the quarterfinals by Bulgaria. The U.S. of A. climbed his way ta the semis but lost ta Brazil by one hundred points and lost third place ta Japan. The Cup before that, Moldova beat China durin' the finals after a three day match. It's unbelievable!"

"Anyway, there's two other separate tournaments alongside the World Cup that I know of; the British and Irish Quidditch League an' the Euro Quidditch Cup. For those two, I'm a proud supporter of Puddlemore United, though the Karasjok Kites ain't bad, either." Elizabeth was about to continue and talk about the 1999's League standings and the match between the Montrose Magpies and Puddlemore United when she subconsciously glanced at the three others. Rose looked bored, Naomi wasn't listening, and Kiara had lost interest after she had mentioned the Cup of 2010. Elizabeth coughed into her fist. "I- uh, have _Quidditch Through the Ages_ by Kennilworthy Whisp, if yer ever interested." She purposely left out the fact that she spent months trying to find one of the signed originals and that she had posters autographed by every one of the members on her favourite teams, which took years to acquire.

"So, uh, Hogwarts Houses! Right. Since we _are_ goin' ta boardin' school, we have ta stay in dormitories. That's basically what the houses are. There's a competitions within the school year called the House Cup, where each of the houses battle each other for points. Ya can get points by doing good things. Ya get a load of points if yer house wins the Quidditch Cup. Ya lose points by doing bad things. There are four houses. Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, an'-" Elizabeth made a face of contempt. "-Gryffindor. Ya get sorted with his old hat that calls out what house y'are, based on yer personalities, morals, an' what ya believe in, depending on the person y'are. I reckon I was sorted inta Slytherin, since I value loyalty, resourcefulness, and ambition, but I could have been easily been sorted inta Hufflepuff for the same reasons or Ravenclaw since my Myers-Briggs type is INTP. There's a lot of factors ta it, but if I had to summarize it, I guess each one of the houses would be a Pokémon GO team. Mystic is Ravenclaw, Valor is Gryffindor, Instinct is Hufflepuff, and Slytherin would be not picking a team at all, I guess."

"If presented with a door," Naomi stated, "the Gryffindor will kick it down, the Slytherin will pick the lock, the Ravenclaw would find the key, and the Hufflepuff would knock."

Elizabeth paused. "Huh. Never thought about it that way. Pretty clever."

"I'm a third year Ravenclaw, remember?"

"Well, when ya say _that_..." Elizabeth muttered. "defeats the compliment."

In the meantime, Kiara had gotten bored and had grabbed the book nearest to her, opening it and started to read. She tuned out the conversation around her as she flipped through the basic spell book and soaked up the contents. All of a sudden, she shut the book and smiled coyly, her eyes glinting with the mischief that had been dormant in her for years.

"Hey, Elizabeth," Kiara asked, "which one of the houses do you think are the arrogant bunch?"

"Oh, for _sure_ , Gryffindor," Elizabeth snarled, not even hesitating for a second. "Those lil' bitches are so damn full of themselves, it makes me wanna puke. Why'd y'ask?"

"I had a good idea for a prank," Kiara explained.

"Save it for the school," Elizabeth advised. "Ya shouldn't go up ta them yet 'cause yer new an' they eat up new meat like no tomorrow. Don't wanna ruin yer perfect rep yet, too, since it'll give ye a bad air with the teachers. Best ta do it at school, where ya can easily cover up yer tracks."

"That's a shame," Kiara muttered, "it wasn't even that good of one. Just thought about turning a few things into ducks."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Ducks," she repeated. "Hey, now that ya say it, ya just reminded me of somethin'. There's this one spell for makin' yer opponent's wand fire only ducks when cast. I forgot what it was called, though." Elizabeth paused for a moment before she snapped her fingers and grinned. " _Anaticula_! That's the one. It was in the extra section, _Fun Spells to Use On Your Friends_ by Ronald Weasley."

"I know," Kiara said, showing the cover of her book. _Simple Charms, Hexes, and Jinxes for Young Wizards_ was written in script across in gold. "It's in here. The page I'm on says that the first spell we learn in class is _Wingardium Leviosa._ "

"The levitation spell," Naomi said. "Simple enough if you can get the pronunciation correct. But then again, technically, that goes for every spell.

Kiara took out her wand and pointed it at Hermes' cage. " _Wingardium Leviosa,_ " she tried, but the cage didn't budge.

"Accent the 'o' sound a bit more," Naomi instructed, "and your wand has to swish and flick."

Kiara furrowed her brows and tried once more, following exactly as her friend had said. " _Wingardium LeviOsa!_ " This time, the cafe began to float a half a meter of the seat before dropping back down. "Yes!" Kiara cheered, beaming.

"More like Wingardium Levi _loser._ " All four pairs of eyes in the compartment turn to the girl leaning against the door. "Oh!" the girl said in surprise when locked gazes with the girl leaning against the window. "Hello, Elizabeth! Fancy seeing you here. Why don't you drop _these_ people and come with me? I have something to show you."

"What're ya tryin' ta do, Nadia?" Elizabeth asked, eyebrow raised. "Offer me cannabis? Because I do approximately no drugs."

"No, actually," Nadia huffed, before leaning closer and whispering, "I've got an eight year bottle. Care to share?"

"Oof, that's new," Elizabeth commented, pretending to examine her fingernails, "temptin' me with alcohol. Surprised no one's ever done it. But, ah, just 'cause I had a pint with ye a while back doesn't mean we're permanent drinkin' buds."

"We don't have too," Nadia suggested, "but I would think _my_ company is better than _theirs_ and I could help you get out of here."

Kiara pursed her lips, looking at Nadia with a withering glare. _That idiot insulted me_ , she thought. Elizabeth caught Kiara sulking in the corner and made a subtle wand motion. She instantly caught on and nodded her head, suppressing the urge to smile.

"You, Nadia? Help me? Last time I checked, I wasn't the one failing half my classes. And really? Leviloser? Good god, your nonexistent creative spark has gone down a few notches, yeah? At least this 'loser' can actually do it. Last time I saw you attempt that in Charms, the feather flew in your eyes and you shrieked like a two year old baby."

As Elizabeth continued to trash talk Nadia, Kiara raised her wand. " _Anaticula,_ " she fired, causing a barely noticeable strand of light to hit the girl.

"What was _that_ supposed to do?" Nadia sneered. "Can you _not_ even cast a simple _spell_? Honestly, let me show you how it's really done." She took out her wand and pointed it at Kiara. " _Volatilis Lutum_!" A mallard flew out of her wand and smacked against the window pane. Elizabeth the Third hopped off of Elizabeth's shoulder and proceeded to squash the duck with her paws and body.

"Bat Bogey Hex?" Naomi guessed. "Your arm and wand motions could do with some work. A bit rough on the words, too. Oh, but the duck was completely Kiara's work." Nadia cast one last glare all of them, a particularly nasty one at Elizabeth's smirk, and left the compartment without another word. "I think I would've preferred if the duck was rainbow," Naomi said, poking the duck a bit. Kiara merely shrugged and returned to her hunched position.

"I was actually thinkin' 'bout takin' up the offer," Elizabeth admitted, "but eight years? Probably a red, and I like whites more."

When none of them made a comment about Elizabeth's statement, Rose cleared her throat. "So!" she said, smiling and clapping her hands together. "Have you guys ever heard of the band, Beyond the Spell? They are _so_ good! I can tell all of the members apart from just their eyes!" Rose continued to rattle on, describing each one of the members with meticulous detail, completely ignorant to the fact that the remaining three weren't paying attention. Naomi's eyes drifted towards the window and beyond, where the familiar Scottish landscape started filling the view. _I've made two new friends_ , she thought, _a fangirl and an underage drinker. Plus Kiara, who just made her first enemy. I've got a long year ahead of me, huh?_

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **Second chapter! Wee! This is a bitch to edit, considering I basically rewrote the entire train scene on the spot. Also, when I finished typing the first half of the chapter, I forgot to hit save and everything was deleted. And I constantly got sidetracked since cute pictures of the Anko family was littering my dash. Alongside that, I've been sick for an entire week and the meds I'm on aren't helping. Like, at _all_. But hey! I did it! Sure, the ending was a bit shoddy, but it worked.**

 **Song recommendation of the day: "XO" by The EDEN Project**

 **-Luna**

 **(P.S. Guys, just so you know, I don't support underage drinking. Alcohol messes with your brains and stuff. It's your choice, but I don't recommend you guys do it.)**

 **(P.P.S. Lupus is being a lazy ass, so she isn't writing an author's note. Bitch.)**

 **.**

 _ **(Edited on some date that Lupus did not provide)**_

 **I wasn't being lazy! I was grounded. And then I was busy doing mental suicide, I mean math homework, so I was busy. Anyway, my favorite character was introduced, and if you guess it in the comment section, you get a cookie!**

 **Just kidding, I'm not giving away precious cookies. (That was lame, I know, don't say anything _Luna)_** **Anyway, Kiara is awesome, so she's my favorite.**

 **Anyway, since Luna is doing a song recommendation, I should recommend things too so**

 **Book of the week: Keeper of the Lost Cities By Shannon Messenger.**

 **Au Revoir!**

 **Lupus**

 **(P.S Luna's one to talk about underage drinking)**

 **(P.P.S I have no idea what happened in my authors note, my brain is fried from math)**


	3. Chapter III

Joyce, a black haired girl, walked off of the small wooden boat, talking to her new friend, Cathy, a girl with dark brown hair, as they left the banks of the Black Lake. They had met on the train ride and she really hoped that they were going to be sorted into the same house, since they had hit off so nicely. The two of them follower a rather large man that had introduced himself as Hagrid towards a the towering castle that was Hogwarts. All of the first years were awed by the sheer size of the castle as they stepped through the front door.

The first years made their way through one of the hallways, admiring the paintings on the wall and the Gothic design of the castle. Joyce looked around and found a stern looking elderly woman standing in front of the entire crowd. Despite herself being a fully born wizard, she hadn't bothered to read up on Hogwarts, so she had no idea who the woman was.

After waiting calmly for the crowd to stop talking, the woman began to speak. "I am your headmistress, Minerva McGonagall. Today, you will be sorted into your houses. Each one of the houses have different traits and you will get sorted based on which ones you most share. How this will happen is that a hat will be placed on your head and look into your mind. The hat will then decide which house is best for you. We will go in now, and I will call your names alphabetically. But first, like each year, the hat will sing a song." Professor McGonagall then proceeded to open the doors to the Great Hall with a flourish.

The students inside the Hall were talking loudly amongst their friends, but quieted at the entrance of the Headmistress. Ghost flew closer to the first years and examined the new and yet to be sorted batch of students. On a stool in the front of the Great Hall sat an old, pointed hat. It opened it's mouth and sang loudly:

 _I've done this job for centuries  
On every student's head I've sat.  
Of thoughts I take inventories  
For I'm the famous Sorting Hat._

 _I've sorted high, I've sorted low  
I've done the job through thick and thin.  
So put me on and you will know  
which house you should be._

 _Are you afraid of what you'll hear?  
Afraid I'll speak the name you fear?  
Not Slytherin! Not Gryffindor!  
Not Hufflepuff! Not Raveclaw!  
Don't worry, child, I know my job  
You'll learn to laugh, if first you sob._

The Great Hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. Headmistress McGonagall took her place next to the stool and cleared her throat before calling, "Allen, Margaret." A small girl walked up slowly, and after wearing the hat for a few minutes, it bellowed, "HUFFLEPUFF!" She bounded to her table, all smiles, as her housemates openly welcomed her with cheers and equally wide grins.

"Blackwell, Kiara." A girl tentatively walked up to the front and placed the hat on her head as she took a seat on the stool. She sat there for a minutes or so before the hat shouted out, "SLYTHERIN!" Said house whooped and cheered as the girl made her way to the table and sat with another girl she seemed familiar with.

A few more names were called out until it was Cathy's turn. "Harper, Cathleen." She ran up to the stool and jammed the hat excitedly on her head. After only a moment's hesitation, the hat called, "GRYFFINDOR!" Cathy beamed as her newly assigned house went wild.

Joyce waited until finally "Lancaster, Joyce" was called. She walked confidently up to the hat and placed it on top of her head. The hat didn't pause one bit when it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Joyce smiled as the wild applause of her new house enveloped her as she sat down next to Cathy.

The Gryffindors finally calmed down when "Lovell, Christie" was called. ("RAVENCLAW!") Joyce didn't pay attention to the rest of the sortings and instead spent her time whispering to Cathy. After the stortings were over, Headmistress McGonagall cleared her throat and began to speak. "Thank you, all of you, for coming back to Hogwarts. This year, a few changes will be made. Electives will be open to all years, as we have decided that the first and seconds years need to expand their curriculum as well. Just like the last years, the Forbidden Forest is restricted to all students, and you are not allowed to venture past your common rooms at night. We have caught wind that a few students were doing this, and I must remind you that this will not be tolerated. There are over 300 banned items here at Hogwarts, such as Fanged Frisbees and Skiving Snackboxes. Please see Mister Filch for the entire list and detention will be given to anyone that disobeys these rules."

"And to those of muggle upbringing," Headmistress McGonagall said, "there is no... _wi-fi_ of any sorts here." Gasps were heard from muggleborns and halfbloods alike, and even a few cries of despair rang out. The gist was obvious to them at least. _How will we survive without wi-fi? Isn't this a prestigious private boarding school?_

The purebloods were very confused, however. _What is wi-fi? Is it a game? Drug? Secret evil society? How do we join?_

Cathy gasped dramatically at the Headmistress's words. "How will I be able to post my perfect modeling selfies without _wi-fi_?!" she demanded to no one in particular. "A model _always_ needs to post pictures! I _live_ on my _phone_!"

Joyce looked at her friend in utter confusion. "What the heck is wi-fi? What's a phone? Are these code names for something?"

"No!" Cathy said. "Wi-fi is how you access the internet!"

" _What's the internet?!_ "

"Oh my god, Joyce!" Cathy almost screamed. "I can't believe you don't know what the _internet_ is? How do you life without it? There is _so_ much you don't know about! I _need_ to introduce you to Snapchat! Wait, I can't! No!"

A blunt voice interrupted Cathy's peril. "I can help ya with that. But ya have ta make sure word about this doesn't get past this exchange."

The two turned and saw a girl that looked a few years older than them sporting and silver and green necktie. Cathy opened her mouth, about to ask more, when Joyce interrupted. "I wouldn't trust her. She's a Slytherin and they're all dirty, lying cheaters. And she sounds American. That's even worse. I say you find a more reliable source to get this _wi-fi_ from."

The older girl's pleasant half smile faltered just the slightest bit before returning. "That's rather rude, don'tcha think? An' awfully biased. The Slytherins are on par with the Hufflepuffs in term of loyalty, ya know. Anyway, Miss Harper, if yer interested, just send me an owl, yeah? My name is Elizabeth Collingwood, my first name spelt with a Z an' my last name with two Ls an' two Os. I'll get the fastest internet speeds ya can imagine without any hidden fees. Oh, an' ya can continue yer conversation with Miss Lancaster here. Now, as I was sayin'-" The girl returned to her chat with one of the ghosts (Fred Weasley, he had introduced himself as) as they left the Great Hall.

Joyce sneered at the parting girl's back. "I'm definitely sure she won't. Wait. How does she know our last names? I'm sure she couldn't be paying attention to the sorting ceremony _that_ much."

Cathy shrugged. "But did you _hear_ her? She said she could get us wi-fi! I get that you don't trust Slytherins but wi-fi is more important! Thing of all the _things_ we could _do_!"

Joyce shook her head. "One, I don't have a... a _phone_ that you said this _wi-fi_ needed, and two, I wouldn't trust that Slytherin even if I desperately wanted it. You can take your wi-fi, but I'm warning against it."

"Party pooper," Cathy huffed. Suddenly, the realization that she hadn't ate yet dawned on her. She dug in immediately, eating more food than Joyce thought she could head in a day. After dessert was finished and all the plates were cleared off, Headmistress McGonagall dismissed them, telling the prefects to show their new students the way to their respective dormitories.

Joyce and Cathy followed the prefect to the Gryffindor dorms. The moving staircasses were a bit daunting, but they got used to them soon enough. Joyce could swore she even heard one of the first years yell "Hardcore parkour!" as he jumped from one staircase to another.

Finally, they got to the portrait of a rather fat lady dressed in white. The prefect told them that this was the portrait that led into the Gryffindor common room, so long as you gave the correct password. "For now," he told them, "the password is _affremo_. The password is changed rather frequently, so make sure you stay updated. If you ever forget the password, come to one of the prefects, and we can always help you."

The painting swung open at the password, allowing the newly made Gryffindors to climb inside and get their first peek at the common room. Joyce had to admit, she was a little bit impressed. Overstuffed, squashy armchairs lied around the room, and a deep orange fire roared in the fireplace, warming the entire room and giving the area a cozy feel. The colours consisted of warm reds and golds, with tapestries of lions draped on the walls and windows opening up to an absolutely stunning iew of the Scottish Highlands at night.

The prefect continued to talk. "Girls dormitories on the left, boys on the right. If you are generqueer, please choose the dormitory most comfortable for you. If you don't feel it works, whether you experience dysphoria or otherwise, please tell us and we can arrange for you to stay in a special bedroom for your needs."

With that, the prefect stopped talking and blended into the crowd of students, most likely going to talk to friends. Joyce and Cathy made their way to the dormitories, where a blonde girl who Joyce hadn't bothered to remember the name of was scribbling out a letter, an owl perched next to her on the nightstand. Cathy was suddenly reminded of the incredibly tempting offer the Slytherin girl had given her. The words she had said were still fresh in Cathy's mind on repeat. _Just send me an owl. My name is Elizabeth Collingwood. I'll get you the fastest internet speeds you can imagine._

 _Why doesn't Joyce trust here?_ Cathy wondered. _High speed internet that's completely free! That's literally a dream come true!_

 _But Joyce said no_ , Cathy thought.

 _But Joyce doesn't know the beauty of the internet!_ Cathy finally decided on her decision. She would owl Janice tomorrow morning before Joyce woke up with Zoe, her barn owl.

"Good night," Cathy said as she hopped into bed.

"Good night," Joyce replied.

The next day, Joyce stretched and smacked her lips as she sat up in her bed. She looked around and saw that most of the girls weren't here, signalling that they were in the common room. She hopped off her bed and yawned, rubbing her eyes. She looked towards Cathy's bed, but it was empty. She frowned slightly, but made her way to the common room. It was pretty empty, save for a red haired 5th year who was furiously writing on parchment.

Joyce made her way to the great hall, which was lively and bursting with energy from the students. Owls flew in the air from the windows as the students ate their breakfast. Joyce quickly located Cathy and took a seat next to her.

"I'm so sorry I didn't wait for you!" Cathy said in a rush, "It's just that I needed to owl my mum and you were out like a brick! And-" She was interrupted when Zoe flew and landed in front of her, a letter in her beak. Cathy took the latter and strategically opened it out of Joyce's sight. In a elegant, slanted cursive read-

 _Miss Harper-_

 _Please go to the seventh floor, in front of the tapestry with a bunch of trolls in dancing tutus. It's horrendous. You'll know it when you see it. Just make sure you think, "I need a place with high speed wifi." We're open all day, everyday. The password is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Feel free to bring along any muggleborns and halfbloods ONLY, but make sure they bring their own devices._

 _Best regards,_

 _Elizabeth Collingwood_

Cathy smiled and stuffed the note in her pocket. She greedily ate the remains of her breakfast and got ready for her first class. After breakfast, Cathy walked down to her first class of the day, Herbology, taught by their head of house, Professor Longbottom. They would have it with the Slytherin, which Joyce didn't seem happy about, but Professor Longbottom seemed nice, and Cathy was sort of excited for the class.

When they got to to the greenhouses, and stepped inside number one, they noticed they were the last ones there. "You're a few minutes late," Professor Longbottom told them, though he didn't seem very mad about it. "Try to be on time, next time you come." The two nodded, and Cathy made a mental note not to eat that much tomorrow for breakfast.

"For now though, today I think we should just go over the basic rules. Please follow all the rules I give at the beginning of class, as some plants can be dangerous and have special handling instructions. For example, the cry of a fully grown Mandrake is fatal, and earmuffs must be worn when handling them. Try to be punctual to class," At that he looked directly at Cathy and Joyce, who tried their best to put on guilty faces.

"Please try to complete all assignments as neatly and quickly as possible, and refrain from talking over me. Lastly, please try to respect your peers. Fights are not appreciated in this classroom." He finished talking and looked at the time, seeing that only a few minutes had passed. "Since it's the first day of class I will allow you to get to know each other, and mingle for the remainder of class." The Gryffindors immediately started talking loudly, whilst the Slytherins stayed more refined and talked in hushed whispers amongst themselves. Cathy and Joyce looked around the classroom, trying to pick out something to talk about.

"Look," Joyce said, attempting to grasp onto anything to say out of sheer boredom, "That boy's got a booger on his nose." She pointed to a Gryffindor boy who was talking and completely unaware of what Joyce had pointed out.

"Interesting," Cathy replied dryly. Joyce continued scanning more faces, finding a Gryffindor who was doing cartwheels around the place for the amusement of another friend, a Slytherin girl sitting alone, hunched over and reading a book, and another Slytherin boy with his wand raised at a Gryffindor.

Wait. Joyce realized what he was trying to do. _How does he know any spells so early on?_ she thought. Joyce watched in horror as the boy raised his wand, ready to cast a spell. She wracked her brain for something to counter him with, and a memory surfaced of her mum drilling in her head a spell to use against anyone harassing her. She forgot what it did, but it felt like the right time to use it. " _Levicorpus_!" The boy was flipped over and suspended in the air by his feet.

"What is going on here?" Professor Longbottom strode over to them. He pointed to the boy and said, " _Liberacorpus,_ " causing the boy to fall back down.

"He was pointing his wand and threatening to cast a spell on another student, so I tried to stop him," Joyce explained.

"Is this true?" Professor Longbottom asked the boy, who pursed his lips and didn't respond. THe fact that his wand was still pointed at the other boy was enough of an explanation. "I'm sorry Mister Knight, but I have to give you a detention. And Miss Lancaster, I do also have to give _you_ a detention, seeing as using spells on another student for things other than academic purposes is strictly prohibited. That will also be fifteen points deducted from both of your houses."

"A detention!" Joyce raged as she and Cathy made their way to Potions. "A bloody detention! On the first day of school! _From the 'said' nicest teacher in school_!" Cathy did her best to offer condolences as her friend continued to rant on and on, letting all her anger out.

"I'm sure it can't be _too_ bad," Cathy reassured. "In primary school, it's just sitting down and waiting."

"Well, this isn't a primary school!"

"Yeah, you're right, but, which is literally a school for witches and wizards! It's nowhere near normal, and their punishments m I'm sure they can't make you do anything that terrible. This _is_ still a school, after all."

"But this is Hogwarts might not be either!" Joyce exclaimed miserably.

Cathy sighed. "At least the detention isn't now. Cheer up, we have Potions with the Hufflepuffs next. That shouldn't be too bad."

"It's taught by the head of Slytherin. We're Gryffindors. Work out what's probably going to happen to ourselves."

"I'm sure they can't be all that bad," Cathy said, thinking of Elizabeth and her wi-fi. "Besides, the Hufflepuffs are supposed to be a nice bunch."

"If you say so," Joyce mumbled, not feeling like further pressing the point.

They got to the dungeon and were about to sit down when the teacher, Professor Greengrass, started talking. "Welcome to Potions class. You will be learning the properties of magical substances and how to brew a variety of potions with different effects. Since you will need cauldron partners, I will assign them and you will sit together for the rest of the year. The list is as follows: Mister Darloff with Miss Allen, Miss Lynn with Miss Lancaster, Miss Harper with Miss Greneski-" Joyce tuned out after that. She couldn't believe that she and Cathy weren't put together. She hoped that the girl she was partnered with was half decent.

Joyce walked over to the girl, whom the teacher had called Miss Lynn, and sat down beside her. "Hello," she greeted."

"Hi!" the girl said back. Joyce deduced she was a Hufflepuff from the obvious black and yellow necktie and the fact that she hadn't seen her before. "I'm Rose, who are you?"

"My name is Joyce," she responded.

After Professor Greengrass saw that everybody was with their assigned partners, she explained what they would be doing. "Today, we will start with an easy potions, just to get you slightly immersed in the class. We will be brewing a cure for the boils, and the recipe should be listed in the potions textbook on your supply list. All of the ingredients are in the closet over there. Please begin as soon as possible."

Joyce took out her textbook and, after a quick look at the table of contents, turned to the correct page. A quick glance at Rose confirmed that she had done the same. However, Joyce noticed that her partner's face looked slightly pale. "Okay, do you want to start?" She turned to Rose, who just nodded. "Can you get the ingredients?" she asked, because, of course, why do it herself if someone else could do it for her? Rose nodded and went to get everything listed in the book.

When she came back, Joyce started to crush the snake fangs with her pestle in her mortar, whilst Rose sat and did nothing. This began to irk Joyce when she had moved onto slicing the Pungous Onions. _It's not fair that_ I'm _doing all the work_ , she thought bitterly. After she added her ingredients and heated the cauldron, she handed Rose the wooden ladle. "Stir all of these," Joyce told her, gesturing to the cauldron as she sprinkled in some dried nettles and Flobberworm mucus.

"Um..." Rose held the ladle tightly, staring at it as if it was a foreign object. "How do I do it...?"

Joyce looked at her face, which was completely serious. She must have been joking, since even someone like herself knew how to stir things. However, Rose's face was completely devoid of any sign of humour. "You should know how," Joyce said, exasperated. "You just move your arm in a circle."

"Are you sure?" Rose asked, to which Joyce nodded. "Okay then..." Rose then held the ladle upside down, using the handle to mix the contents in the cauldron, if it could even be _called_ mixing. Joyce didn't know it was physically possible to not know how to stir things until she watched Rose completely screw up the simple task. She went in zig-zags, up and down, and in a weird hodgepodge of directions as an attempt at trying to mix.

"Rose, stop!" Joyce exclaimed, absolutely horrified, but the damage had been done. The potion started to bubble, and they could only watch in terror as it came closer and closer to the rim of the cauldron. It spilled over, creating a huge mess on the floor.

"What is going on?" the professor demanded, running over. "How does one even mess up such a simple potion so badly?" Rose turned red and looked down. Joyce was just hoping she didn't get a second detention, in a day. Professor Greengrass waved her wand and the mess disappeared. "I'll let you off, since today was your first day, but if I catch you playing with your potion like that one more time, you will get a detention. However, that will be ten points deducted from both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.

Joyce let out a sigh of relief when the professor left. "You know what, I think I'll just do everything next time," she said, turning to Rose, who nodded, looking as if ten kilograms had been lifted off her shoulder.

Finally, the class ended, and Joyce packed her books up, and looked for Cathy. She found her chatting with the Indian girl she was paired up with. Joyce waited for a pause in their conversation, before pulling Cathy away,

"Come on, we have lunch next," Joyce reminded Cathy.

"Yes! I'm starving!" Cathy cheered.

"You're always starving," Joyce reminded her.

"So? I still want to eat."

They got to the great hall, and sat down with the rest of the Gryffindors, who were all chatting and generally being the loudest ones in the great hall. Cathy started eating ravenously, not leaving much room for conversation. Joyce followed suit, though much more modestly. _This is going to be a long year,_ Joyce thought as she took a bite out of her sandwich.

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **Another chapter~! Wee~! This one was pretty fun to write, and much easier to edit than the other ones. (Though this site doesn't count, like, any of the magic terminology as words.) To be honest, I had to do a _lot_ of Wiki/Reddit/Pottermore searching to find out alot of the information you read. It didn't give any information about the professors, so we just picked out some that Reddit suggested. **

**ANYWAY, thanks for reading the story and I hope you stick around another week for the next chapter!**

 **-Luna**

 **(P.S. If we're ever delayed, blame Lupus. #BlameLupus everyone.)**

 **.**

 ***SPOILER ALERT***

 **This is the first of _many_ times Rose is going to mess up. **

**Also, what's with all this hate on me? I'll have you know that I'm a perfectly nice person.**

 **Anyway, this chapter was fun to write, I definitely enjoyed making Rose blow up a potion. That was my idea, as will be many of the comedy parts, since Luna doesn't have a sense of humor in that dark emo heart of hers.**

 **So anyway, I'm getting to the**

 **BOOK RECOMMENDATION OF THE WEEK (Or whenever we post this chapter, it might be of the month or something, I don't know):**

 **V is for Villain** **by Peter Moore.**

 **Adios!**

 **Lupus**


	4. Chapter IV

Rose and her two new Hufflepuff friends, Helena, a black haired girl, and Maya, a brunette, walked down the hallway to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "This place is so cool!" Maya gushed, admiring the medieval style of the castle. "And we get to use _magic_! This is, like, a dream come true!"

The three entered the room, where a handful of their other housemates were seated and mingling amongst one and another. Maya found a place where there were three desks next to each other and gestured for them to sit down. Maya continued talking about how different the wizarding world was from the muffle world and the two others were hanging onto each and every word. Truth be told, Rose had heard from Liz a lot of the things that were coming out of Maya's mouth in a rapid fire. That said, her third year friend would only criticize the wizarding world, saying that "no-maj technology was far more advanced in comparison ta wizardin' technology." This fact, Rose had always refused to believe, but after seeing Liz explain the "pencil," she wasn't so sure.

Likewise, Helena had taken it upon herself to read books on muggle society and knew almost everything about them. This included their technology, government, history, and culture. However, she was still interested in an actual muggleborn's point of view.

After all of the students were comfortably seated, the professor introduced herself as Professor Bones. She gave a briefing of the basic rules before jumping right into the main lesson: gnomes. Now, of course, Maya's first ideal thought when she heard the word "gnome" were the smiling little ceramic garden decorations resembling Santa Clauses with fishing rods. Any person living in a muggle area would think the same. What she was definitely, absolutely _NOT_ expecting was a wrinkly, bald, potato like creature with a humanoid body composed of stubby limbs.

"What _is_ that?" Maya whispered to Rose.

"A gnome," Rose replied. "Weren't you listening?"

"My god, that was _not_ what I had in mind," Maya gagged, looking at the creature.

Rose looked at her friend in confusion. "What did you have in mind?"

"Those adorable Santa Claus fishermen in those funny American commercials! Not... _that_... that _thing_."

"Never mind," Maya sighed, not wanting to look at the deformed monstrosity that wizards claimed were "gnomes."

"To catch a gnome," the professor began, "You will have to grab the gnome, preferably by the neck, and spin it around. This is so they become dizzy and can't make it back to their burrows. Usually, you would throw it out of a garden, but today, we will just throw away from you. Be careful though, because their bites sting."

"They're making us catch the gnomes?" Helena asked, "...what if it bites? And won't it hurt the gnomes?"

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Maya said, though a bit nervously.

"I'm releasing the gnomes!" Professor Bones said, and opened a crate filled with about twenty gnomes.

"Ah!" Helena shrieked, "There's a gnome coming for me! What do I do? I don't think I can-" Helena put her arms around herself as the gnome came closer to her. "What do I do?" She looked around wildly, but the only thing she saw was a Slytherin girl smiling to herself amusedly at Helena's current predicament. Helena sighed, since what she heard about Slytherins meant that she shouldn't expect any help from the girl. "Maya? Rose? Help, please!"

Unfortunately, both Maya and Rose were a little busy with their own gnomes, so Helena was on her own. Helena could just imagine the gnome clamping it's jaws around her ankle. She had a very low tolerance for pain, so it would most likely not go well. The gnome was now visibly opening its mouth, and Helena jumped back. "Oh my god!" she said frantically, looking around wildly for help.

Much to Helena's surprise, the Slytherin girl stepped over. "Do you need any help?" she asked.

"Yes, please!" Helena said, "Can you please show me how to catch it?" The girl nodded, approaching the gnome and looking at it before kicking it in the face, causing Helena to jump slightly at the sudden action. "Is that how you're supposed to do it?" Helena asked nervously. The girl merely shrugged as the gnome stumbled back, looking more annoyed than hurt. The girl sighed and pursued the gnome again, kicking it in the stomach this time and knocking it down in the process. She landed in a few more kicks in its face until she was satisfied that she had knocked it out.

"There you go," she said, the corners of her mouth slightly quirked. "I'm Kiara."

"I'm Helena," she replied. "Thanks for that, but do you mind teaching me how to do it properly?"

"Oh, sure, I guess," Kiara said, shrugging. She walked over to another gnome and started demonstrating to Helena. "So, what you want to do is sneak up on it first, which is easy since the don't have very sharp senses. Then, you clamp it by the neck." Kiara squeezed the neck of the gnome as it wriggled around in her hands, completely trapped. "Finally, you spin it around and throw it as far away from you as possible." Kiara launched the gnome into the air and the two watched as it sailed metres away from them. "You can try it on that one," she said, pointing to a gnome a close by.

"Umm, okay..." Helena started to approach the gnome cautiously, before falling back a step. "What if I can't do it?" she asked fretfully, "would I get a bad grade?"

"I won't know if you don't try," Kiara encouraged, "and hey, if something goes wrong, at least you have magic to fix you up, right?"

"That's not very motivating," Helena grumbled, but approached the gnome nonetheless. She tried using all of the steps Kiara told her, and watched as it barely managed to fly a metre away from her.

"It could use some work, but all around, not bad," Kiara told her.

"Thank you!" Helena said gratefully, smiling. Kiara nodded before melting back into the crowd of students in the classroom.

"I hope I don't get a bad grade for this class," Helena fretted nervously after DADA had ended. She walked down the halls with Maya and Rose, worry evident on her face.

"I'm sure you won't," Maya reassured, but after listening to her friend's recap of the class _incident_ , she couldn't be too sure. "Look on the bright side; we have Transfiguration next. I'm sure you will be great at it. Actually, we should all do fine. It can't be too hard, right?"

Halfway into the class, Rose wish she could agree with that statement. Maya must have jinxed her with that sentence. There was no other way, as almost every _except_ for Rose had successfully turned their match into a needle, Helena even managing to convert it back. Her two friend and Professor Davies looked at Rose with concern as she tried again. And failed. Again. Rose let out a frustrated noise, her face unreadable. "Rose?" Helena asked, watching as her friend stabbed at the match with her wand in a helpless manner. "Do you need any help?"

"You can't help," Rose moaned, banging her head against the desk. "This is an independent assignment. And there isn't much else you can do other than tell me how to point and gesture with my wand. That probably won't do anything."

Professor Davies made his way over to Rose and rested a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay if you don't get it," he said. "This is only your first day. However, it is rather peculiar that you can't complete this task." Those words did not help at all in terms of boosting Rose's confidence. Rather than give up, however, Rose decided persist. She decided not to ponder whether or not it was a good or bad thing. Concentrating more than she ever had before, Rose pointed her wand at the match, determined to get it correct this time.

 _ **BANG!**_

A booming explosion rang throughout the classroom as a fire erupted from the tip of the match, piercing every student's ears and causing majority to jump or scream or both. The fire singed Rose's eyebrows slightly, but that was the least of her worries. Seeing as majority of the classroom consisted of wooden objects, the fire easily spread from one desk to another. Professor Davies waved his wand almost frantically and managed to douse the desks in water and extinguish the fire. Smoke tendrils curled up from the burnt wood and Rose's eyebrows. The professor flicked his wrist and the desks returned back to its previously pristine shape.

When the chaos died down, Professor Davies looked at Rose with a stern gaze. "Miss Lynn," he said slowly as Rose wavered, guilt in her eyes. She gulped and looked down at the floor. "I hope you know that there will be consequences for practically blowing up my classroom. I will be lenient with you, since this is the first day, but I'm afraid that will be twenty points deducted from your house."

"But it was an accident," Rose protested, though she knew that nothing good would come out of it.

"Would you like another twenty points deducted?" the professor asked. He didn't mean to be unkind, but his voice was strict.

"No, sir!" Rose answered quickly.

"Good." He nodded, then addressed the class. "Since that… incident took up the rest of the class, you are all dismissed. Have a nice remainder of the day."

Rose, Helena, and Maya sat together at a wooden table inside the cozy, cheerful Hufflepuff common room as they waited for the dinner bell to ring. The latter two were in a deep discussion about muggle household appliances and the former was sitting silently, lost in thought. _How did I manage to mess up_ two _classes in one day?_ she wondered. _I can't be that bad, right? Maybe I should ask Liz for tips. She's good at EVERYTHING… wait, no, she said she was iffy at Herbology, even with help from Professor Longbottom… but I'm not bad at that!_ Rose eyed the dancing plants that decorated the common room. _Maybe it's a Hufflepuff thing. She_ was finally pulled out of her thoughts when Maya managed to get her attention.

"Hey, Rose," her friend said, "how do you think they make the food here? Because it's really good and I can't see the Headmistress cooking."

"Uh, I dunno," Rose shrugged. She hadn't paid mind when the food was served, since she was too busy actually eating it. "They're wizards, maybe the conjure it out of nowhere."

"Isn't the kitchen really close to here?" Helena asked.

"I dunno," Rose replied.

"I think," Maya added. "Maybe the older Hufflepuffs know. We could ask." Silence overcame the three, none willing to actually complete the suggestion.

"Whatever." Rose shrugged again. "It probably won't do us any good."

"Yeah, you're right," Maya agreed. "But do you know what's really exciting?"

"What?" Rose asked.

" _Flying on broomsticks!_ "

Rose shrugged again. It seemed like the only thing she was capable of. "I'm not to good at Quidditch since I'm not athletic, but whatever."

"Yeah, I'm not the best at sports, and it's sort of boring to watch, no offense to the quidditch players."

Maya shot her a questioning glance. "What's quidditch?" Rose briefly explained the wizarding game to her muggleborn friend. "That sounds amazing!" Maya grinned. "Everything in the wizarding world is so much cooler than in the muggle world!"

"Really?" Helena said. "From my books and your descriptions, the muggle world seems plenty interesting. Lifts, escalators, and computers? I personally find that fascinating."

"But you guys have _magic_!" Maya argued. The two continued to talk and compare the two different worlds, Rose occasionally pitching in to add her thoughts and opinions. Just as they were about to start talking about the differences in education, the bell rang, signaling the start of dinner. The three made their way to the great hall to fill their stomachs.

"I just remembered something!" Helena exclaimed. "Harry Potter's children are in the school with us!"

Rose paused, raising her head. "Oh yeah, you're right."

"Who's Harry Potter?" Maya asked.

"He's _the most famous wizard of all_!" Helena said excitedly. "He's the only person ever to survive the killing curse and he defeated Lord Voldemort during the Second Wizarding War!"

"What's that?" Maya was still confused.

"The Second Wizarding War? That was when Lord Voldemort and his group of supports, the Death Eaters, tried to wipe out all muggleborns and wizards with muggle heritage. Previously, he had tried to use the killing curse to kill Harry Potter, but failed. He disappeared for years until he returned in full strength."

The three girls hadn't noticed the Fat Friar drift over until he spoke up. "It was a truly horrible time," the ghost said, practically tearing up. "The Dark Lord killed Cedric Diggory, one of the students in our house. What a fine lad, he was. So much potential, but he met the wrong fate."

"Isn't he the bloke in the painting next to the lady?" Rose asked. The ghost nodded before drifting away.

"After that," Helena continued, "Lord Voldemort continued to kill other muggleborns. His death eaters started taking control of Hogwarts after Severus Snape became the headmaster. When Lord Voldemort returned to Hogwarts, he and his Death Eaters faced off Dumbledore's Army, a militia made up of students. There were so many casualties, but Harry potter managed to kill his enemy once and for all. It has changed the history of the wizarding world. And Harry Potter's children attend this school too."

"Woah," Maya said. All of this information was new to her, so it was hard for her to take it in all at once.

"Basically," Rose said, "Voldy was evil. Voldy tried to kill baby Potter, but baby lived. Potter grew up, Voldy tried again but killed Diggory instead. Voldy tried one more time, Voldy died. The stuff in between doesn't matter." Rose summarized what Helena said in less than a minute. A little bit after, all of them went back to the common room. They talked for a bit before retiring to bed.

Rose rolled around in bed, still wide awake. She wasn't tired yet and she was bored out of her mind. Finally, she crept out of bed, put on her shoes, and decided to go for a walk. Rose tiptoed as quietly as she could, making sure not to generate any noise. The common room was empty, save for the two paintings, which were asleep. She snuck out of the common room and ventured out in the halls.

A few metres away from the barrels that lead to the Hufflepuff dorms, Rose bumped into something. She stumbled backwards, her heart racing and fear overtaking her. Rose looked around frantically, but didn't see anyone. Suddenly, her eyes focused on a shadowy figure rubbing it's arm. " _Liz_?"

It was indeed her third year Slytherin friend, a bag over her shoulder, much to Rose's disbelief. Elizabeth jolted when she was addressed and whipped her head to face her. " _What the hell are ya doin' out here this late_?" Elizabeth hissed, glaring at Rose.

"I was bored- wait, what are _you_ doing?" Rose whispered.

"Nothin'."

"Liz, I'm not dumb. The Slytherin dorms are on the other side of the school."

" _Fine_ ," Elizabeth said, pursing her lips. "I'll show you. Follow me." Elizabeth looked at Rose before snickering. "Nice pjs ya got there." She silenced, raising her hands in surrender when Rose shot her a look.

Elizabeth lead her through the halls for a short walk before they reached a painting of a fruit basket. She reached up and tickled the pear until it turned into a handle. Elizabeth pulled and gestured for Rose to follow her as she stepped through. Rose's breath got caught in her throat as she looked inside. House elves bustled around in a nicely lit room, doing all sorts of things. Half of them stopped when they saw Elizabeth. "Does missus want her things?" one of them asked.

"That'd be great," Elizabeth replied. "Thanks, Vinnie." A few seconds later, the elf handed her a large platter. On it was a plate of fish, a jar of honey, and an assortment of steaming mugs. Elizabeth took the honey and one of the mugs, setting them on a nearby table. She took the platter and shoved it into her bag, laughing at Rose's horrified expression. "Don't worry, the bag's charmed."

"Is this… the kitchen?" Rose asked. Elizabeth nodded as she took a large sip from her mug.

"Just ask the wee elves what ya wanna eat and they give it ta ya," she said. "They're such nice little fellas. I've been doing this for such a long time that they memorized what I usually get."

"Wait, what are you even doing here?" Rose demanded.

"Gettin' food?" Elizabeth responded, raising her eyebrows as she took another sip. "Duh?"

"No, I mean- argh- it's late and you could get caught!"

"Wow," Elizabeth said, mocking surprise. "Ya care about my well being." She laughed, taking another sip. "Nah, I've been doin' this since I met Fred. So, two an' a half years? Anyway, I have a few aces up my sleeve. As in, I'm the ace and I'm in my sleeves." Elizabeth let out another laugh, much to Rose's dismay. " _Anyway_ , I know a basic invisibility spell that works wonders. That's why ya couldn't see me before. My prefects are totally chill with it, as long as I bring them coffee. Well, actually, Nat prefers tea, but that's beside the point. It's also a convenient way ta pick up food for Elizabeth. She only eats smoked mackerel an' grilled herring. But, I mean, she _is_ Norwegian, so it makes sense. The honey is for me. It helps with my weak immune system an' my sleep cycle. 'S a basic muggle remedy thing."

Elizabeth paused to take another sip. Rose wondered how she could possibly fall asleep if that was coffee, even with the honey. "So…" Elizabeth ventured, "how's yer day been?"

At that, Rose let out a groan. "Liz, do you have any tips on transfiguration and potions?"

"What? Why?"

"I… accidentally set fire to Professor Davies classroom and messed up a potion when I tried stirring." Rose looked at her friend, whose face remained blank. Then, upon closer examination, she saw Elizabeth biting her lip and pinching her thigh to keep herself from laughing. It didn't work, seeing as Elizabeth doubled over, tears in her eyes, laughing silently and heaving.

"Good god," she said between breaths, "you _can't_ be _that_ bad!" Elizabeth finally managed to compose herself, but a smile was still plastered on her face. "For potions, as long as ya follow the instructions _exactly_ , ya can't mess up. For Transfig, well, that's harder. It's not really somethin' ya can think about. You gotta feel it in your bones or whatever, yeah?"

Rose looked at her friend. "That's dumbo."

"That's magic. 'S not like I'm the full blooded witch or whatever. I can't explain it."

"That's more dumbo."

"Okay, I get it. Anyway, I gotta tag, so see ya." Elizabeth shot Rose a finger gun before pulling her wand out and flicking her wrist. Her friend vanished, but she could see the honey and mug disappear and the painting door open and close. Rose contemplated whether or not she should get a slice of pie from the elves, but decided that the sugar wouldn't do her any good. However, she did take a small biscuit lying on the table before quickly leaving and going back to the Hufflepuff dorms.

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **Ohhhh my goddddd. Sometimes I forget how much I hate editing until I actually have to edit. And there's probably punctuation errors EVERYWHERE. But I had, like, three cups of coffee this morning, so everything isn't too bad. (Btw, coffee is an excellent supplement to replace sleep.) Anyway, I hope you like the new chapter. The two of us are trying to find more time to work together between Lupus' ridiculously packed schedule. Message us(cough cough me cough) if you got all of the references up to now.**

 **I've been listening to a lot of EDEN recently, and also "Checkpoint" by Hyper Potions and Nitro Fun, so that's what I recommend.**

 **-Luna**

 **(P.S. I'm in a sleep deprived condition right now, so I'm sorry if everything I type makes no sense.)**

 **.**

 **Well, there you have it. I don't really have much time so I'm just gonna say that Rose blowing things up was my idea. I'm too lazy to do a book rec.**

 **Au revoir**

 **-Lupus**


	5. Chapter V

Two months at Hogwarts had flown by faster than Kaylee could imagine. Through all of the classes, homework, and magic, she couldn't have been bothered to check the date. It wasn't until one morning, where she glanced out the window and saw the change of leaf colours, where she realized how much time had actually passed. So, when Kaylee had begrudgingly rose out of her bed one morning, yawning, her bushy hair a complete mess, and wishing she could sleep a wee bit more, she had completely forgotten that it was Halloween. However, someone else in her dormitory didn't.

Christie was on the other side, adjusting a pointed hat on her dark haired head as she looked in her mirror. Her robes donned different decorations, including little smiling pumpkins and white blobs with big eyes. Kaylee stared at them in confusion, wondering why the girl was wearing them. In her own opinion, they looked a bit ridiculous and slightly childish, definitely not something she saw often on Halloween. When she was happy with the way she looked, Christie beamed before pivoting on her heel and seeing Kaylee rise out of bed. Christie gave her a cheerful "Good morning!"

As Kaylee tidied herself up, she caught Christie touching the decorations adoringly and saying things like "so ka-why-ee." What those words meant exactly, she wasn't sure. It got to the point where Kaylee was so frustrated at not knowing the reason for both the decorations and the strange language where she outright asked, "Why do you seem so excited? It's just Halloween."

Christie stopped just as she was about to leave the dormitory and turned to face Kaylee, a good amount of shock written on her face. "Are you not excited? It's _Halloween_!" _Are wizards not into Halloween as much as muggles?_ she wondered _. I thought they would be even more so because of the magic and the witches._

"Um, why _would_ I be excited? Other than the feast, there isn't anything that special about it."

"There's a _feast_?" Christie broke into a ginormous grin. "That's so cool! But don't you blokes dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating? Of course, I don't have a costume since I'm at Hogwarts but I decorated a bit." _Even if mum wasn't accustomed to it, she still got on board!_

"Is this a muggle thing?" Kaylee asked, seeing as this information was all new to her. Christie nodded.

"It has to do with warding away the spirits of evil by wearing different scary costumes. Now, it's just become a time where children get to dress up and collect candy from around the neighborhood."

"Oh," Kaylee said, pondering the concept a little, "That actually sounds fun."

"It is!"

"You know, I heard that some big news is gonna be announced at the feast," Kaylee said, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Really?" Christie asked, "I wonder what it's going to be."

"Yeah, me too." Kaylee agreed, "Ummm, Christie, I get it's your Halloween thing and all, but are you seriously gonna wear that to class?"

"Yeah!" Christie said, enthusiastically, "It's a tradition to do it in muggle schools. We even have a competition for best costume! And a parade march!"

"Ok, then," Kaylee said, "I'm just saying some purebloods might tease you for it."

"Oh." Christie shrugged, "It's ok, I guess. Besides, _I_ like it."

"If you say so," Kaylee said, dragging out the words, "I'm just saying that it will probably happen."

"Come on, we're gonna be late to breakfast," Christie told Kaylee, choosing to ignore her last statement.

"Oh, yeah, let's go," Kaylee said, sensing the change in subject.

As they walked into the breakfast hall, Kaylee expected whispers, and snorts at Christie's costume. However, no one payed attention, and she even spotted some other people also in costumes, or decorated robes. _Huh,_ Kaylee thought, _Well, what do you know._

Just as everyone was about to leave for their first class, Headmistress McGonagall stood up, silencing the hall. "As you all know," she said, "today is Halloween. However, that is not what I am going to be talking about. The staff and I have all decided on an inter-house exchange programme to help diminish all poisonous rivalries between the houses. One first year from each of the houses will participate this exchange, and these candidates will be announced now. The student will stay at the exchange house's dormitory, but has the option to return to their house during meals. It will take effect starting tomorrow."

Headmistress McGonagall picked up a sheet of parchment from the table and cleared her throat. "Going to Slytherin will be Maya McCartney. Going to Hufflepuff will be Kiara Blackwell. Going to Ravenclaw will be Joyce Lancaster. Going to Gryffindor will be Kaylee Meyers. If you have any questions, contact your exchange house's prefect. Everyone is dismissed." Kaylee froze, fork clattering to the plate. _She_ was going to the _Gryffindors_?

"Why me?" Kaylee complained to Christie, "Why not Caroline, or something? She deserves it, always boasting about how smart she is."

"I think it's cool that you're going to Gryffindor," Christie said, "You'd get to learn about how they operate differently from us!"

"I guess, but still," Kaylee borderline whined "I don't want to go to Gryffindor, I heard they were all arrogant pricks."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Christie consoled her, "What's the worst that could happen?"

Kaylee opened her mouth, but Christie cut her off, "Wait. Don't answer that. Come on, we have care of magical creatures next, and I don't want to be late."

Kaylee's misery had not cleared up after her classes. She had almost died in Care of Magical Creatures, seeing Hagrid decided it would be an absolutely smashing idea to bring in venomous snakes for them to learn about. Kaylee, being Kaylee, would have fallen into the snake's' cage, had Hagrid not managed to catch her in the nick of time. Kaylee now had a fear of snakes (and Slytherins, one of which had been the one to push her towards the cage) and having an uneventful time in DADA, where they simply read from the textbook, the two were asking back to their dorms for free period.

"I hate Slytherin," Kaylee declared, checking out her new wounds, which she had gotten from slipping down the spiky fence that caged the snakes.

"I'm sure they're not all the same," Christie said, "You can't generalize everyone."

"Whatever," Kaylee mumbled, "At least I'm going to Gryffindor, and not Slytherin."

"See?" Christie said, "Find the silver lining!"

However, after about fifteen minutes in the Gryffindor common room, Kaylee was ready to take back her words. The room itself was rather nice, with a view that could rival Ravenclaw's, but the people in it were absolutely horrible. They were a loud, rowdy bunch that shouted practically everything they said. Any longer and Kaylee was afraid of the fact that her eardrums might not make it intact to the end of the year. The numerous amount of "SHUT UP, I'M TRYING TO DO HOMEWORK!"s were futile attempts. It was as if they were on an extremely unhealthy amount of sugar infused caffeine every day. What Kaylee didn't realise was that the other exchange students were suffering as well.

"I DON'T CARE WHERE VANISHED THINGS GO!" Joyce screamed, slamming her fists against the door in a mix of frustration and anger. "I JUST WANT TO GET INTO MY BLOODY ROOM! I'M A FIRST YEAR, WHY DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BE A GENIUS?!"

"Woah, calm down," the prefect said, looking at Joyce with concern and slight amusement. "We can work together and figure it ou-"

"I just want to get into my room!" Joyce shouted again.

"Ok, ok, just let me think," the prefect said.

"Where do vanished objects go?" the door asked again. Joyce narrowed her eyes, having detected mockery in the door's tone of voice.

"Not here, I can tell you that," Joyce growled, glaring at the door and kicking it. The voice went quiet for a while before a faint _click!_ sounded and the door swung open. Joyce blinked at the door in surprise. "That… worked?"

"I mean," the prefect mused, "you're not _wrong_ , so I guess it would."

The two entered the common room, where a good amount of other Ravenclaws where lounging and talking to each other in. Joyce stared up at the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw before turning away from the empty and slightly creepy eyes of the founder. She sighed and plopped down on one of the couches, contemplating what to do. _I'm so bored_ , she thought, groaning internally. _There's no one here I know and everyone is talking about, like, school stuff. I might as well die of boredom right here._

Back at the Hufflepuff dorm, Kiara was dying to get back to her own dormitory, where she knew people that weren't so friendly. It wasn't that she didn't like the Hufflepuffs, it was just that every single time she sneezed, she was bombarded with a ridiculous amount of "Bless you!"s and at least ten people offering tissue boxes. Kiara wanted a decent, cheeky banter, maybe even with that one fifth year, who was an absolute ledge. Also, after getting used to the colder dungeons, the warm Hufflepuff common room seemed stuffy and cramped. Besides all that, Hufflepuffs and her inability to talk to new people without making a fool of herself didn't really mix.

So, all of this resulted into Kiara practically dying of boredom. Back at the Slytherin commons, there was always some kind of competition going on. The last one she had seen was an intense battle between Prefect De Fiore and Head Girl Kelly to see who could chug the most coffee in a minute. Elizabeth had even manage to start a betting pool, which got a huge amount of attention in just a few seconds. The one before that, Elizabeth had taught all of the prefects how to play Texas Hold'em and everyone began to bet over Honeydukes' chocolate until four in the morning. And even without the competitions, the lake was always a source of entertainment. Dancing cacti just weren't nearly the same level of wickedness than the Kraken (as Kiara liked to call it) or the mermaids.

All Kiara could do now was read, in a corner, and stay as silent as possible, hoping that no one would notice her. Her mind wandered to earlier, when a Hufflepuff had told her the unofficial curfew time (which was apparently a thing), when a prefect announced, "Hugtime!"

What?

Kiara didn't like hugs. In fact she didn't like physical contact in general very much, _especially_ not with strangers. Apparently, Hufflepuffs didn't have the same concerns.

She huddled deeper into her corner, hunched up, and hoped no one would notice her. No such luck.

"Hey, Slytherin girl, come join in!" a Hufflepuff called.

"Umm, well, you see…" Kiara mumbled, much too quiet for anyone to actually hear her.

"Come on, don't be shy!" another chimed.

Once again, Kiara cursed her inability to actually talk to another person.

She stood up, but instead of joining the hugs she simply slipped through the people hugging each other, and went up the stairs, to the girls dorms, hoping no one would call her out. Luckily, no one did, and she was able to continue reading her book in peace.

Over at the Slytherin common room, Maya stared in confusion at the makeshift wooden stand very closely resembling a typical lemonade stand. The top was spray painted in yellow; _TIRED OF USING USELESS WIZARDING OBJECTS? TRY THESE MUGGLE PRODUCTS INSTEAD!_ On the counter was an arrangement of basic muggle objects on display, like pens, pencils, lined paper, and erasers. "Hey," the girl behind it said, waving a hand in front of Maya's face, "Are ya interested in buyin' stuff? 'Cause ye've been staring at me for, like, a good five minutes. Or am I just that good lookin'? Don't worry, I'm single."

"Is this even allowed?" she demanded.

"What?" the girl asked, feigning ignorance.

"This!" Maya gestured to the stand and the products. "There's no way you could have bought these on campus, so that means you left the castle! And muggle products aren't allowed in school!"

The girl let out a laugh, shaking her head and smiling slightly. "No one specifically said I couldn't do it, so 'course it is!"

"Actually, most of these items are on the restricted items list, which I would know, since I read the whole thing."

The girl held up a finger to her sly smile, throwing a wink. "It didn't say 'Pilot gel pens' or 'Ticonderoga size 2 pencils,' so how do I know they're banned? And besides, I tinkered with them, so technically, they're my creation. It wasn't specific, so it wasn't there."

"You can't do that!" Maya protested, "That's- that's cheating!"

"It ain't cheatin', kid," the girl said, "It's bendin'. Findin' the loophole, yeah? That's what us Slytherins are all about. The house of cunnin', remember? Now, good day ta ya. Oh, hey, Ary! Yer shipment's comin' in tomorrow morning, kay? I'll get it ta ya before yer first class. And I'll refund half yer money if ya win tonight's insult contest or tomorrow's rap battle."

"Cool," the other girl, Ary, said, smiling slightly and flashing a thumbs up. "I don't know how I'll do in the insult contest, since Lilith has some serious roasts and Peter will blow it out of the water if it's a traditional flyting style. But I'm taking a W for the rap battle."

Maya gaped at the sight. Wasn't that a prefect? Were the prefects seriously supporting this? They were supposed to set an example, not support illegal goods! She needed to tell someone about this. If the prefects or Head Girl weren't going to do something, the only option left was to tell the headmistress.

Later that day, Kaylee couldn't wait for the feast at this point, because it would give her a chance to get away from the Gryffindors. They were nice and all, but the sheer volume was completely overwhelming, as mentioned before.

When it was time for the Halloween feast, she walked out with the rest of the Gryffindors to the great hall, before joining the Ravenclaw table, and sitting next to Christie.

"God, those Gryffindors sure can talk, I swear they never shut up."

"Well, at least you got to learn how they operate, right? How's their common room?" Christie asked,

"Surprisingly comfortable," Kaylee responded, "The decor isn't bad, and the armchairs feel very nice…" she trailed off, "That probably sounded weird."

"It didn't sound weird," Christie assured her, "It's good that you at least enjoy something."

"Yeah, I guess."

The next day, Kaylee woke up much earlier than she usually did, because, you guessed it, the Gryffindors were being noisy again. Annoyed, she walked down into the common room, and found two girls playing a game of exploding snap. Their laughter was obnoxiously loud and the explosion from the cards wasn't any better.

"Can you please keep it down?" she complained, "I'm trying to sleep."

"We're playing a game," one of the girls told her, infusing as much snark into a sentence. "It's not even that loud, so just sleep with the noise."

"Actually, I can't sleep with 'the noise'" Kaylee said, "Besides what are you even doing, playing a game like this at six A.M?"

"We're having fun," a girl fired back, "You should try it sometime."

"Whatever. At least keep it down, as I try to get decent grades."

Kaylee sat down in an armchair, but instead of studying, opened up a book, hidden inside of a textbook, and started reading that, ignoring the sound of the game to the best of her ability's.

Finally it was time for breakfast. Christie was meeting with a teacher that day, so Kaylee was forced to sit alone, so it wasn't really her fault that she eavesdropped on a conversation, between a Slytherin and the Hufflepuff exchange student, right across from her.

"How come you have a snake in your common room? I don't remember that being on the approved list for pets," the Hufflepuff demanded.

"Oh, that's a friends snake. She's not here at the moment, so she asked me to take care of it. We keep it in the common room, everyone likes him. His name is Hermes. Besides, Potter's got a weasel, and honestly, no one really cares about your pets."

"Well, you're not allowed to keep a snake in the common room, or even have him as a pet." The Hufflepuff crossed her arms. "Besides, he almost bit my arm off!"

"Why were you close enough to the snake to the point where it almost bit your arm off?" the Slytherin asked.

"Well, I wanted to make sure it was a snake, and then it just shot out, and almost bit me!"

"Well then you shouldn't have gotten close," the Slytherin shrugged. "And if it looks like a snake, you shouldn't _look closer_ to see if it's a real snake. No one, well most people, don't leave fake snakes lying around."

The Hufflepuff girl stalked away, leaving the Slytherin to shrug to herself, and sit at the Slytherin table.

 _Well_ , Kaylee thought, _at least I didn't get sent to Slytherin. Who knows how that could have turned out._

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **I can see my hours of sleeping slipping through my hands and being replaced with coffee and tumblr. And editing. I hate editing. But I'm too lazy to get a beta-reader and Lupus is awful at it. Anyway, I know this is going to sound desperate, but _please leave a review_. It makes my day and if your account allows PMing, I'd love to talk to y'all. Knowing that people are all over the world and reading this silly story the two of us created over the summer is heartwarming.**

 **Anyway, thanks for staying here for another chapter! My song of the week is "Fumes" by EDEN (the Eden Project) and gnash. ( _i think you think too much of me_ is like the best album everrrr.)**

 **-Luna**

 **.**

 **Guys, don't do taekwondoe unless you're prepared to die from exhaustion. I just did two and a half hours of back to back exercise, and I'm still tired twenty minutes later. Anyway, I found this chapter funny (Mostly because the whole thing was my idea). So yeah, uh, review because Luna is obsessively checking the story stats, and I don't think it's very healthy for her at this point. Also, I like reviews.**

 **Book of the week: Warcross, by Marie Lu (I'm still in the middle, but it's pretty good so far)**

 **Bye!**

 **-Lupus**


	6. Chapter VI

Kiara was elated when the three week exchange finally finished. No more early curfews, hug times, or awkward interactions! Thank the gods. So, when Kiara woke up in her Slytherin bed, in the Slytherin dorms, she couldn't help but smile. She rolled out and saw that she had actually woken up rather early, seeing as none of the other girls were up. Kiara got dressed and ambled down the stairs to the common room to catch a glimpse of the Kraken or the mermaids before she went off to breakfast. She had realized, early on, that the mermaids didn't look like the stereotypical western ones, and more like Russian rusalki mermaid like creatures with green hair.

She expected to see what she usually saw the few times she woke up; Elizabeth setting up her stand, taking packages from Wahoo and occasionally, Will talking to the mermaids in sign language. She definitely wasn't prepared for what she saw today.

What looked like a full muggle kitchen had been set up, with her third year friend in the centre. Elizabeth prodded a large, fatherless bird with a gloved finger as she murmured quietly to herself. She looked up and locked eyes with Kiara before smiling slightly. "Top of the mornin' ta ya, lassie," she said in an Irish accent.

"What's that?" Kiara asked, going up and standing next to Elizabeth.

"A turkey," she answered. "It's for Thanksgiving, which is today. I do this every year for the Slythers."

"Is that an American thing?"

"Yeah. A national holiday. It's supposed to celebrate the friendship between the pilgrims and the natives." Elizabeth's expression turned somber as she smiled sadly. "It's really ironic. Just a few years after, the white American population killed- no, slaughtered hundreds of thousands, even millions, of the natives, stripping them of their culture and forcing them to forget their own languages. It's horrific. But it's history. Enough about that, it's making me depressed."

"Americans are weird, I wonder what would happen if they just stayed with us."

"You don't ask a patriotic, American-born history buff that question. Kiara. Taxation without representation is never a good solution to bankruptcy and financial problems. But that's a debate for another day." Elizabeth sighed and then went back to the turkey. "Say, Kiara, do ya know how ta gut a turkey?"

Kiara blinked, startled at the random question. "Er… no, not really."

"I can do it with a chicken, but are turkeys the same?" Elizabeth mused. "Eh, whatever. You wanna help?"

"Sure."

"Ight, there's some gloves over there, since this is going ta get super messy."

"Why don't you just use magic?" Kiara asked, putting on the plastic gloves.

"'Cause home cooked food tastes better, yeah? It's an unspoken American rule ta make yer Thanksgiving meal by hand."

"Makes sense, I don't use magic myself, but I know most wizards do."

Several minutes, a secret WikiHow trip, and a gutted turkey later, Elizabeth had managed to deduce that, yes, gutting a turkey was indeed nearly the same as a chicken. After Elizabeth had done basic demonstrations, she let Kiara at it whilst she made the gravy. And, needless to say, Kiara was absolutely, terrifyingly excited to pull out the intestines from a dead bird. She chucked the bird into the oven and the two moved on. "Ye can make the mash," Elizabeth instructed, "I boiled the potatoes already. I'll do the cranberry sauce."

Kiara nodded, then looked around, "Do you seriously mean to tell me this is all you're making?"

"Yeah?" Elizabeth asked, "We made more than 300 servings."

Kiara frowned a little, "I'm disappointed in you, Elizabeth, I expected more from you."

"Uh, what?"

"I'm going down to the kitchen to get more food."

"You don't even know how to get in-" Elizabeth started, but Kiara was already gone. She returned, ten or twenty minutes later, actually carrying food in her hands.

Elizabeth wasn't at all surprised that Kiara had managed to get into the kitchen, but was definitely shocked at what she brought back. "Wait a moment, why the hell are ya carrying a bunch of beef? Ya don't seriously expect me ta-"

"Cook it? Of course I do."

"Oh, c'mon! No one eats _beef_ on Thanksgiving, unless they're completely out of they're mind! And what am I supposed to do? Roast it?"

"Yo!" The two girls turned and saw a 5th year waving at the top of the boys' stairs. "Is it Thanksgiving?"

"Hey, Mateo," Elizabeth said, smiling her classic half smile and giving a cheery wave. "Yeah. That time of the year."

"GUYS!" Mateo hollered, breaking into a huge grin. "IT'S THANKSGIVING AGAIN! Elizabeth IS COOKING!"

Soon after, a torrent of Slytherins from all of the years rushed down the stairs and practically flooded the common room, cheering and shouting, "I LOVE AMERICANS!"

"We're eatin' this during dinner," Elizabeth told Kiara as she stirred the sauce. "They just like the smell."

When the time came around, she could see the looks of jealousy from all of the other houses and even the staff as Elizabeth levitated the dishes into the hall. Platters piled high with heaps of steamed vegetables, tureens of cranberry sauce and gravy, a few metric tons of mashed potatoes, another few metric tons of baked potatoes, ten different types of pasta, three different types of stuffing, a beef roast (which Kiara insisted for reasons Elizabeth couldn't fathom), a solid block of honey glazed ham, and the largest turkey in existence settled on the table. "Professor Greengrass!" Elizabeth shouted, waving her over. "Thanksgiving family dinner ain't complete 'til the matriarch's here!" The Slytherin Head smiled at Elizabeth before firing a smirk to the rest of the staff and walking over. And Elizabeth was absolutely right. The homemade Thanksgiving dinner tasted so much better than anything Kiara had ever tasted from the usual meals.

Sadly, the rest of the school days weren't nearly as eventful as that day. But another thing that could rival Thanksgiving in excitement was right around the corner; the first round of Quidditch. It would be Kiara's first time watching a match, and from Elizabeth's description of the game, it was nothing short of amazing. However, her own hype was nowhere near close to her American friend's.

"I've been ref-ing for the team on practices," Elizabeth said in a rush, practically jumping up and down from her seat on the armchair, "and Jesus, they are amazing! I'm so excited, good god, I can't even! I'm surprised that good ol' McGee actually let me narrate! I'm probably gonna be completely biased to Slytherin and maybe Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw! But who cares!"

Kiara looked slightly amused, "Old Mrs McGee? That's an interesting name for her."

"It's that or crazy cat lady," she laughed. "I was torn between the two."

"They're both equally horrible," Kiara decided, "But you should have done crazy cat lady."

"Thanks," Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes but smiling nonetheless. "So, this yer first time watching a game?" Without letting Kiara answer, she continued, "There's a hell lotta hype from all of the houses, regardless. We won last year, the Huffles the year before, and Ravens before that. From before that, I was told that the Gryffindors- ugh, I hate saying their names- had a streak."

"You're the jealous of the Gryffindors," Kiara teased.

"Where would ya get that from?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know," Kiara shrugged, "I mean, it was mostly a joke, but it also sort of seemed like it, cause you were all like, 'I hate Gryffindor' and stuff, and it's probably natural, because you're a Slytherin, but, well I don't know, it was sort of a joke."

Elizabeth paused for a bit before smiling again. "Yer quick here," she said, tapping the side of her head twice. "I like that. But yeah, Gryffindors do get a hell lotta limelight. More than they're overblown egos need. So I'm ready ta kick some Gryffindor ass!" The Slytherins scattered around the common room cheered along with her. "Come on, Kiara," Elizabeth said, "give me the best patriot ya have in there during the game."

"There goes Densen with the quaffle," Elizabeth fired into the megaphone as fourteen students on brooms whizzed around the pitch, "Pass ta Vasilyeva, back ta Densen, and- OH DAMN BOI DID YOU SEE THAT THREE SIXTY BARRELL ROLL?! _HE THROWS, **HE SCORES! THAT'S THIRTY-NIL FOR SLYTHERIN! TAKE THAT, BITCHES**_ \- oh c'mon, Headmistress, ye'd be the same if it was Gryffindor."

If muggle commentary was even slightly closer to Elizabeth's, Kiara would never peel her eyes off of ESPN. Currently, the three exceptional chasers (Henrik, Natalya, and Mei) each scored within the first few moments of the game. She had never been a sports fan herself, but Kiara could feel her house pride coming up and cheering with her. She just felt like quidditch was so much more intense and captivating than, say, football.

"Kihara's speedin' up with the quaffle, ooh, look at those _beautiful_ maneuvers, guys. Smooth and stylish, just like her fancy hair. That line sounded better in my head."

On the pitch, Naomi whizzed across the field, rocketing after Kihara, the Slytherin team's best chaser and the one in current possession of the quaffle. She could see Holland and Maeve, her team's two other chasers, go after her in a similar fashion, cutting off passing routes. Naomi took this as a signal and bulleted straight towards Kihara, aiming to snatch the quaffle from under her arm. However, only metres away from the chaser, she heard a deafening shout. " _Blueberry_!" Rangi, the beater, yelled. Instantly, all three turned away sharply from the Slytherins, recognizing the safe word.

"Oh _shi-dang_! Kihara's hit by Iaone's bludger _right in the side_! Not _too_ much damage, but it's definitely gonna hurt like shi- like alot! Should've gone ta Specsavers, eh? _With those glasses deals, she woulda been able ta see that thing from a MILE- from **two kilometres** away!_ And he's got a killer arm, by the way. But, alas, ladies and confirmed bachelors, he's taken by my friend _Prasert_! There goes Brennan, divin' in and saving the quaffle, she's uppin' her game today, yeah? Nice job, Brennan! Let's meet up some time at an Irish joint and- _damn_ , that was a fine throw, but intercepted by my homie _Hayes_! Vasilyeva, shootin' through the field and that state-of-the-art, brand new, Cleansweep 15! **Buy them now at Quality Quidditch Supplies!** Pass ta Densen, Kihara, back ta Densen, who dives and narrowly misses Dreese, pass ta Vasilyeva, and throws- _damn_! Just _barely_ intercepted by Lyttelton, excellent catch ta her."

Kiara watched as Naomi caught a ball, one handed, and started flying towards the Slytherin hoops. She was blocked by Mei, who wouldn't let her fly any further, but without missing a beat she passed to another Ravenclaw chaser, which took Mei off of her, and let Naomi fly closer to the hoops. Meanwhile, the ravenclaw chaser had passed to the other Ravenclaw chaser, who quickly shot a ball at Naomi. Naomi was about to go for the rings, when Henrik blocked her. Quickly feinting right, Naomi passed to the second Ravenclaw chaser who scored.

" _Wowzas_! What an _amazin_ ' synchronized attack thing! O'Hanigan, with that astonishin' feint, and that throw from Brennan? **BRILLIANT!** _It's the Porskoff Ploy_! All those serious Quidditch fans out there know that that is _not_ an easy play! Now, Vasilyeva's got the quaffle, doing some MLG pro trix and divez, blonde hair whippin' in the wind like overrated romance movies! _Don't look at me like that, you know it's true! **SHE THROWS, SHE**_ **-** aww, damn! I mean, wow! Caught by Lyttelton _again_ , who narrowly missed a well aimed bludger from Vargas!"

The next few moments raced across Naomi's eyes and mind. All she could remember was Holland shouting out another code word and her instantly pushing herself to the limits and beyond in her effort. Catching, passing, throwing, and scoring all started to muddle together as the three of them racked up points for their house. Naomi had never felt so tired, yet so alive in any of the games she had ever played. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she raced across the field, clutching the broom handle until her knuckles were white.

" _AND YET **ANOTHER** SCORE MADE BY **NAOOOOMI** **O'HANIGAN**! THAT'S THE **FOURTH** ONE IN A ROW BY HER! HEAR THAT, Y'ALL?! **FOUR** , JUST FROM O'HANIGAN HERSELF, NOT EVEN MENTIONIN' HER ENTIRE TEAM! **FROM ROCK BOTTOM TA TOP, FROM SHAME TA GLORY, FROM RAGS TA RICHES, HERE COMES TEAM RAVENCLAW'S COMEBACK OF THE CENTURY, AT ONE-EIGHTY TA THIRTY!**_" Elizabeth had been screaming so loudly her throat had started to become hoarse and she had a small lightheaded sensation.

Kiara's first initial thought was, _Yay Naomi_! Then she realized she should probably cheering for the Slytherin's, not the Ravenclaw's, even if her first wizarding friend was on that team. She kept watching the game, taking in the flying broomsticks and balls with wonder only a muggle-born could have. As she kept observing, she noticed the Slytherin seeker look around, and seem to see something interesting, or at least important. _She must have seen the snitch,_ Kiara thought, somewhat excitedly. She looked around, following the seekers train of gaze, until she finally saw a microscopic speck of gold flitting around to the left of the seeker. If she caught it now, the Slytherins and Ravenclaws would be tied 180-180, which would be better than losing the game all together. Kiara watched intently as the seeker started to go left towards the snitch and...dive towards the ground.

 _What is she doing? She's gonna get herself killed, the snitch is to the left of her, why would she…_

Then Kiara noticed the Ravenclaw seeker following the Slytherin one, and quickly figured out what was going on. The two seekers kept diving towards the ground, the Ravenclaw catching up, coming up closer, and closer, until suddenly the Slytherin seeker veered up and left, leaving the poor Ravenclaw seeker to fall to ground, as he wasn't fast enough to turn. Kiara figured he would at least have a broken arm, if not more.

Meanwhile the Slytherin seeker zoomed on, grabbing the snitch with ease. Kiara had to admire the talent if must have taken to pull something like that off. She was pretty sure it had to be a very advanced move and her suspicions were further confirmed when Elizabeth shouted, more loud and excited then she had ever done before:

"HOLY SHI-SMOKES! _THAT'S RIGHT, KIDS! SYLVIA JUST PULLED OFF THE **WRONSKI DEFENSIVE FEINT** , ALL STAR PLAYER **VIKTOR GOSHDANG KRUM'S** SIGNATURE MOVE! A MOVE SO **DANGEROUS** , IT'S RARELY ATTEMPTED BY EVEN **PROFESSIONALS**! AND **LYRA SYLVIA** PULLED IT OFF WITH SUCH BEAUTIFUL SMOOTHNESS! **AND CATCHIN' THE SNITCH IN THE PROCESS!** THAT'S RIGHT, Y'ALL! **SLYTHERIN AND RAVENCLAW'S PERFECTLY TIED AT ONE-EIGHTY TA ONE-EIGHTY! WHAT! A! GAME!**_"

A week later, Kiara stood in front of the horrifying troll tapestry Elizabeth had instructed her to go to. I need a place with high speed wi-fi, she thought continuously, walking back and forth. Around the third time she thought it, a large door materialized in front of her, nearly causing her to jump in surprise. Kiara smiled to herself in triumph and pushed open the door. She was greeted by what seemed to be a muggle's paradise.

The entire room seemed to be made up of cushions and duvets, furnished with couches and love chairs and recliners. There were spaces all over the walls where charging ports were stationed, and in the corner was a router, along with two vending machines. A handful of people, muggleborns and half-bloods presumably, were scattered around in various lounging positions, all on some sort of electronic device. Towards one wall, three people were huddled around a flat screen television with headphones on, watching intently as a strange blue box flew across the screen. A girl was laying on a couch, her phone mere centimetres away from her face. And, of course, Elizabeth was sprawled across the floor, staring unblinkingly into a computer screen with some curly black haired guy in a scarf running around.

Kiara found an empty armchair, and took out her phone, connecting to the wi-fi. She opened up Archive of our Own, and started catching up on her missed fanfictions.

Suddenly, the doors were literally flung open, as a girl with Gryffindor robes on walked in, and then paused realizing the entrance she had made. Seemingly shrugging it off, she walked further into the room and sat down on the armchair right next to Kiara's.

 _Oh, great,_ Kiara thought, _If she tries to make conversation I swear to god-_

"Hey!" the girl said, cheerfully. "I'm Cathleen, what's your name?"

"Huh- oh, um- hi?" Kiara mumbled, almost inaudibly.

Cathleen seemed unfazed by the reply, and forged on. "You're not wearing robes, what house are you in?"

Kiara reflexively looked down, and realized that since it was a weekend she had, indeed, put on normal muggle clothes, without thinking about it.

"Oh, I'm a Slytherin," she mumbled, only slightly louder.

"Really?" Cathleen asked, "You're awfully quiet for a Slytherin. The ones I've met have been so loud." Kiara shrugged and was saved from having to reply when Cathleen suddenly got up and made her way towards Elizabeth.

"How does the wifi thing work?" Cathleen asked, taking a seat next to her. Elizabeth ignored her and continued slowly eating crisps. When she tapped Elizabeth on the shoulder, she jolted and looked up.

"Yeah?" Elizabeth asked, taking out one of her earbuds. "What's it?"

"How does the wifi thing work?" Cathleen repeated.

"Magic," she replied, going back to her show. Cathleen rolled her eyes, before tapping Elizabeth on the shoulder again.

Elizabeth took out one earbud, looking annoyed. "What?"

"So, like, could I use snapchat? Or is that against the rules cause I'm at a wizarding school. But I really want to take selfies! And this against the rules, too. So, anyway, could I use Snapchat?"

"Ya interrupted my Sherlock marathon ta ask about usin' Snapchat?" Elizabeth asked, looking at her with a deadpanned expression. "Sure, it's illegal to leak wizardin' things ta muggles, but kid, I smuggle products from the States and sell them without a permit. I don't care what ya do, as long as ya don't bring me inta this again."

"Well, you're rude," Cathleen huffed, and went back to sit next to Kiara.

"Are all Slytherins like that?" She asked, "Or is it just her?"

Kiara shrugged, wishing she could go back to her fanfiction, but not wanting to be rude, "Honestly, she was probably just mad that you interrupted her programme. She's like that."

"Whatever, she was still rude. I don't talk like that when people interrupt me when I'm texting someone. Anyway, I have to keep up my Snapchat selfie streak!"

"Selfie...streaks?" Kiara asked, confused. She might be muggle-born, but she was always a little out of pop culture.

"Yeah! Selfie streaks. You're a Muggle-Born or a Half-Blood, right? You know what they are."

"No."

Cathleen looked confused, "What do you mean, no?"

"I meant I don't know what they are."

"But, how can you not?" Cathleen demanded, before she gasped loudly and covered her mouth with her hand. "Unless- _you don't use Snapchat_?"

Oh, the horrors, Kiara thought, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. "I've got to go," She told Cathleen, itching to get out of the room.

"Oh, ok, see you around!" Cathleen grinned, before taking another selfie.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was pulled away from her third rewatch of "The Sign of Three" when she received a text notification alerting her that the latests shipments had arrived. She sighed and unwillingly paused the episode before getting up and leaving to the Slytherin commons to intercept the packages before anyone else could. Elizabeth moved quickly through the halls and finally to the entrance, where she whispered, "Leviathan" and entered the common rooms. The first thing she saw was that Hufflepuff transfer. However, what caught her from saying hello was the fact that the exchange program had ended weeks ago.

The second thing she saw was Headmistress McGonagall holding white boxes wrapped in packing tape. When she looked at the Hufflepuff in slight confusion, the girl crossed her arms and looked away. Elizabeth was instantly not okay. _A snitch_ , she thought sourly. She controlled her face, though, so her displeasure wasn't shown. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Headmistress?" Elizabeth asked coolly, purposely not acknowledging the Hufflepuff's angry look.

"May I ask, Miss _Collingwood_ , what are these?" Headmistress McGonagall questioned, gesturing to the box.

"Gifts from my brother," she replied smoothly.

"For what occasion?" the headmistress inquired, turning the parcels in her hands.

"The Moon Festival," Elizabeth lied.

"Really?" The headmistress had the nerve to look surprised. "Is that so? _I_ was informed by Miss McCartney over here that you were importing items from the United States and sKiarang them in the common room."

"And how could _Miss McCartney_ possibly come up with such a bizarre explanation like that?" Elizabeth asked. "I assure you that is not further from the truth."

"What- but- how-?!" Maya spluttered, her ears tipped pink.

"I do believe it is rather unfair to draw conclusions from the false accusations of a single student?" Elizabeth continued. "And especially so if that student is not accustomed to what usually goes around in the Slytherin house?"

"There is a… _pen_ in your pocket, Miss Collingwood," Professor McGonagall said coldly, "and I do believe that the banned items list says that they are not allowed."

"Yes, indeed, it does say pens aren't allowed in school," Elizabeth said, a faint half smile growing on her face, "but it did not say a パイロットゲルペン wasn't allowed. Because the manufacturer of this type of pen is Japanese, that would make this a ペン, not a pen. So, therefore, since ペン is not on the banned item list, it is allowed. Now, may I please ask for my packages back?"

The headmistress handed back her the white boxes, her unwillingness to do so obvious. Maya silently fumed as the Slytherin got away scoot free right in front of her face. Elizabeth smiled and accepted the packages before opening one of them and taking out more individual boxes. "Dare I ask what those are?"

"Fidget spinners," Elizabeth said, taking one out and holding it up to her, demonstrating a spin. "Fascinating, isn't it?"

What Elizabeth didn't realise was that if she had arrived at the Slytherin common just a smidge later, she would have seen the door of the storage room open wide. She would have seen the person inside, backed into the corner. She would have heard the ear piercing scream.

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **Hoooo, shit. The tHoT pLiCkEnS. But uh, yeah! This was a really fun chapter to write, and it was much easier to edit than the other ones. And I _actually_ don't feel like a shit storm today! The qudditch scene was incredibly fun to work on, especially Elizabeth's narration. At some point, I figured she was just advertising everything in existence.**

 **I absolutely love "Shelter" by Porter Robinson and Madeon. Go listen to that.**

 **-Luna**

 **(P.S. The Japanese at the end literally just means "pen" and "pilot gel pen".)**

 **(P.P.S. Lupus hasn't responded to any of my messages, so there was a one day delay. Sorry.)**


	7. Chapter VII

Naomi rubbed her hands together, her exhaled breath turning into mist under the freezing temperatures. Winter had sprung and it was only a matter of time for the holiday season to roll around. The moment she had stepped outside the warm shelter of the Three Broomsticks, Naomi was hit with a wave of freezing death. She shivered has she made her way through the crowded streets of Hogsmeade, pushing through the crowd of students on the streets. It wasn't until she reached Honeydukes when she finally managed to relax.

Naomi took in a deep breath of the sweet smelling air of the candy shop, a slow smile stretching across her face. She would have stood there for longer, if someone hadn't bumped into her. "Shit!" someone exclaimed, "Uh, sorry there, pal." Naomi looked around and locked eyes with another girl; specifically, the one from the train ride.

"Hey!" Elizabeth said, breaking into a half grin, "Naomi, yeah? You're a stunnin' player, ya know? One of the best student fliers I've seen, plus an amazin' shot. Good job on the match."

"Thanks," Naomi replied, "you're not too bad of a narrator yourself."

"I try ta make it interestin'," Elizabeth chuckled, walking over to the counter. She dropped a handful of galleons on the counter and took the bags of candy. She took out a small blue box and opened it, offering one to Naomi. "Ice mice," Elizabeth said, "want one? I've got sugar quills, toffees, and caramels too."

"Wait, I can have all of that?" Naomi asked looking excited.

Elizabeth laughed and handed her a bag with bunch of different boxes. "It's my money, but you look too happy 'bout it and I've got extras, so here's some free candy. Imagine it's a congratulatory gift, yeah?"

"Yay!" Naomi grinned, and immediately dug in. Two minutes later, the entire bag was finished.

Elizabeth was about to comment, when she noticed a plate of liquorice wands being put out as free samples. "Ooh," she said, moving over to them, "I hope they're made from black liquorice."

"I'm actually not that much of a fan of black liquorice," Naomi admitted.

"Not everyone likes black liquorice," Elizabeth said, shrugging. "I'm not _too_ huge on sugary stuff, so I prefer darker things."

Naomi didn't hear it. She'd had already ran over to the samples, and had already had at least four of the free sweets.

"Calm down," Elizabeth said, "I think yer only supposed ta eat one or two."

"If they're out they want us to eat them," Naomi shrugged.

A few moments later, the woman who had put the samples out in the first place came out. "The liquorice wands were gone much quicker than usual," she said to herself, "I wonder why."

She put down another sample and left, which Naomi immediately started to finish off too. When the witch came out again, she just shook her head and didn't lay out any more samples.

"Wow," Elizabeth marveled, looking at Naomi with what appeared to be awe and appreciation. "That's pretty dope. Anyway, I've gotta tag. I'm sharing a pint with the giant squid." When Naomi gave her a questioning glance, Elizabeth lifted up a bag with a glass bottle in it, the amber liquid sloshing around. "Wheat juice," she said, winking and exiting the candy shop, leaving Naomi in confusion.

Hours later, Elizabeth stood up from her seat down next to the lake, holding her empty bottle of firewhis- ahem, _wheat juice._ She bid the giant squid farewell and trekked back towards the castle. She stopped by the kitchens and picked up some things before going back to the Slytherin common room. Surprisingly, a handful of people were gathered around the notice board. Elizabeth walked up to Kiara, who was sitting on one of the couches. "What's up with them?" she asked, taking the seat across from her.

"They're talking about a dueling club. It's second year and up only, which is not fair. I want to go," Kiara explained bitterly. "Anyway, what' up with your bag?"

"Dueling club?" Elizabeth echoed, "sounds like too much commitment. Oh, and the bag? Just some orange juice, water, meds, an' what apparently is wizard gatorade."

"What? Why do you need that?"

"It's hangover cure," she answered. "Just in case, ya know?"

"You shouldn't be drinking," Kiara told her, "You're only like thirteen."

Elizabeth laughed and waved her hand. "I'm rounding the corner to fourteen. It's legal in China, where I happened ta grow attached to it. Don't worry, I'm not an a heavy alcoholic. I just like a bottle or so every now and then. Anyway, Imma pop off and take a nap."

 _Just a bottle, huh_ , Kiara thought as she set up her cauldron later that day, _and she says she's not an alcoholic_. She had found a recipe for an aging potion, and was planning to work on it that afternoon. It needed snake venom, which was probably a deterrent from students using it, but luckily she had a steady supply available.

A half an hour or so later, Elizabeth was suddenly jolted to life when loud explosions sounded from the commons. Pain seared through her head as she stumbled around, trying to find her sack of goodies. She took out the juice and the meds, running down stairs and ready to beat the life out of the cause of the noise. "Motherf- _Kiara?!_ What the _hell_ are you doing?!"

Kiara looked up from prodding her snake and hissing at it. "Unless you're suddenly blind, I think you can figure it out."

Elizabeth shot her underclassman a murderous glare, dry swallowing a more than healthy amount of pills. "Save the smart-assery for later," she growled, downing half of her orange juice, "and save the potion making for class. Or I swear to god, I will not let you live another day in your miserable little life."

"I doubt you'd be able to hurt a fly, in your hungover state" Kiara told her, an insufferable smile on her face, "Besides, I have a venomous snake snake at my disposal."

Without a moment's hesitation, Elizabeth whipped out her wand and shouted, " _Rictumsempra!_ " When Kiara doubled over, wheezing and laughing from the tickling spell, Elizabeth followed up with, " _Locomotor mortis!_ "

Kiara was ready, and held up her own wand, casting a shielding spell to deflect it between her laughter.

" _Incarcerous_!" Elizabeth fired, typing rope around and immobilizing Kiara.

Between her laughs, Kiara narrowed her eyes, and said something Elizabeth couldn't really understand. It sounded a lot like a curse, though. Then, a little louder, "Call the spell-" She laughed, "Off, or I'll have Hermes bite you, and that won't be fun."

"Try me," Elizabeth taunted.

"O-ok," Kiara said. She said something, possibly in another language, and Hermes immediately tried to strike at the third year, who just barely jumped back.

Elizabeth's eyes widened just a fraction of a millimeter before she fired, " _Reducto!_ " at the snake, flinging it to the side. She pointed her wand at Kiara and yelled, " _Silencio_!" The first year became quiet, her body still heaving from silent laughter.

"And suddenly," Elizabeth muttered, "I have half the mind to shank you." Kiara stuck her middle finger out. "Ya know what?" she said, "I'm leavin' ya there 'til someone finds ya and helps. For now, have fun suffering. Don't worry, yer snake friend ain't dead. Yet." Elizabeth turned to leave, then stopped. "Hey, Isla," Elizabeth said, hiding the fact that she was practically scared at confronting the Head Girl. "G'd afternoon."

"Not bad," the Head Girl said, examining Kiara from head to toe. "Just a bit sloppy on the binding spell, but otherwise nearly perfect. I won't tell if you have any of that coloured water stuff lying around." The Head Girl waved her wand and all of the spells on Kiara were removed.

Kiara glared at Elizabeth, crossing her arms, scowling, and muttering a few choice words to herself.

"Yeah, I've got some extra gatorade ta spare," Elizabeth said, walking back to her dorm room. She took out the bottle from the kitchen and walked back to the common room. Right as she stepped in, Kiara ran over and threw a punch at her. She would have landed a solid black eye, perhaps even more, had Elizabeth not moved away just in time. Nonetheless, Kiara sent a sidekick flying at her stomach, causing her to say "ow" in a deadpan.

"Someone forgot I had a high pain tolerance," Elizabeth muttered, tossing the bottle to Isla. Kiara, didn't hear, having already gone back to her potion.

Elizabeth jolted, as yet another loud explosion sounded. She walked over to Kiara. "How hard can it be ta make a potion?"

"Hard enough now that you and Isla are watching me," she mumbled.

"What do Isla an' I have ta do with it?"

"Nothing, go back to sleep," Kiara groaned.

Elizabeth paused for a moment, staring at the mixture inside the cauldron. She lifted a hand and dipped her finger in, watching the liquid drip of her index before taking a whiff. "Agin' potion," she declared. "A pretty damn simple one too, but without the hollyberry essence. How the hell did you forget the essence?"

"I was about to put that in, but then somebody tied me up," Kiara snapped.

"No, you put it in before the ten counterclockwise stirs," Elizabeth said. "You messed up before you realised it."

"Ok, Elizabeth, I messed up, whatever, can you go away now?" Kiara looked sullen.

"Agin' potion," Elizabeth murmured, "agin' potion… Yer tryin' ta get inta the Duelin' Club, aren't ya?"

"What's it to you?"

"Ya can't make yerself older and expect it ta work," Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes. "These are teachers that work with ya daily. Ya gotta change yer appearance."

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Kiara said sarcastically, holding up contacts and a bottle of dye.

"That won't work either," Elizabeth stated bluntly. "They have ta recognized ya."

"No, they don't," Kiara said, even knowing that it was true.

"Go talk ta either Mei or Lyra," Elizabeth said, ignoring her. "Ya know, the ones on the team. Both of them are seconds. Tell them I sent ya and explain yer situation. Neither of them are goin'. Ya can dress up as them and cast a basic voice changer on yerself. Ya won't attract attention since both of them are introverts without any friends."

"What are you, the all knowing seer? How do you know them well enough to know that will work?"

"Nah," Elizabeth laughed, "it's Rose that shows signs of being a Legilimens. I bet a galleon she's a Seer, too. I'm just the only friend of the two. Mei memorized the entire restricted section in her first year, along with every spell book in existence by the time she was six, and Lyra was taught by myself. Neither of them would like duelin' lessons. They'd gladly help, seein' as how many pickles I've gotten them out of."

Kiara ignored her, and just shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever, I'm going to bed."

"It's only seven," Elizabeth deadpanned, "y'ain't goin' ta bed."

"So?" Kiara asked.

"So," Elizabeth elaborated, "yer a shitty liar. "

"And you're a shitty person," Kiara murmured quietly.

Elizabeth still heard. "I know," Elizabeth said, patting her on the back. "Now, if yer as stubborn as I think ya are, you'll talk ta either of them and follow up with my plan. It's flawless, which I do think ya realise."

Kiara didn't say anything, but then she whispered " _silencio"_ subtly pointing her wand at Elizabeth. The older girl raised her eyebrows, but smiled languidly and made some hand gestures (an index finger motion, an angry box gesture, and a point towards herself) before leaving the commons.

That night, Kiara walked over to the room where the club was taking place. After finding out that Professor Greengrass was hosting the club, she had made quick work convincing the professor to let her join. All it took was a quick show of her abilities, which, thanks to her hours of extra practice in empty classrooms, were a little sharper than a normal first years.

Walking in, she found an empty corner and kept to herself. Finally, her name was called, and swallowing down the nervousness that surfaced at dueling someone in front of other people, she walked up to face a second year. She fired a spell before the boy had time to raise his wand, and ended up with his wand in her hand. She grinned at his shocked expression. It was a shining moment of victory for her.

Suddenly, a teacher burst in, looking windblown and frantic. She didn't look at the students, instead talking in a hushed tone to Professor Greengrass. It was obviously not meant for the students to hear, but Kiara, who was standing closest to the teacher, heard everything.

"What do you mean that a student was found dead?" Kiara demanded, unable to keep her mouth shut. "Who? Where? When?"

Professor Greengrass gave her a cold look. "Everyone!" she shouted, "that information will not leave further than this class! Please report back to your dorm rooms! As for you, Miss Belyarchik, I would give you a detention if the school wasn't in such an emergency."

Kiara glared at her. "A student _died_ in this school, and you weren't going to tell anyone. Chances are someone's deliberately killing trying to the students. We have a right to know that there's a literal murderer on the loose."

"Miss Belyarchik," the professor said levelly, "as the Dean of Students, it is my job to make sure that the students here are not panicking. And by the looks of the death, it seems highly likely that it was a suicide."

"Your job is to make sure the students aren't panicking?" Kiara asked, just as levelly, "Word would have gotten out sooner or later, you can't hide a death. Imagine if parents and students knew that Hogwarts was keeping a death from them, the panic would be much worse. I was just speeding up the inevitable."

"Miss Belyarchik," Professor Greengrass said, silent anger in her tone. "It was a suicide. We plan on returning the body to the parents without notifying the students."

"You plan on returning the body, which could hold evidence to whether or not it was really a suicide right away? How do you know she wasn't poisoned? I can't believe that _I_ have to tell you this, but giving away the body right away is terribly idiotic."

"Miss Belyarchik," Professor Greengrass was on the verge of exploding, "The room was locked, the windows were bolted, it was a suicide. You can leave now, as you are straying in dangerous territory."

Kiara silently fumed as she stormed out of the room in anger. It couldn't have been a suicide, but she had no proof. It was just a gut feeling. As she entered the Slytherin common room, she was greeted by Elizabeth. "I see ya didn't take my ad-"

Kiara cut her off, "A student died."

Elizabeth froze before snapping out of her trance and staring at Kiara with cold eyes. "Tell me everything you know about it."

"The teacher said it was a suicide," Kiara explained, "since the room was locked and the windows were bolted. A student found the body. That's it."

"The room was locked, the windows were bolted," Elizabeth repeated, muttering under her breath. "It's not the Slytherin dorms, since I've been here all day and knew nothing. The room was locked, the windows were bolted. It's not the Gryffindor dorms, since the windows don't have latches. Not Ravenclaw either, since the rooms don't have working locks with keys. It's a Hufflepuff."

"Wait," Kiara said, "Rose wasn't in any of her classes with me. I assumed she was sick but…"

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Oh no- oh god- Kiara, yes or no, are you coming?"

"I'm right with you," Kiara told her.

Elizabeth nodded and snapped her fingers. "We're invisible now," she said, "and no one can hear us until someone bumps into us. Come on!" She dashed out the common rooms and ran through the hallways, Kiara at her heel. "It's not a suicide," Elizabeth said as she skidded to a halt in front of the kitchen door. "Rose has too much to live for, and she knows it."

"We don't know it was Rose yet, she could have been sick or something," Kiara told her, "We don't know until we go in."

"Kiara!" Elizabeth near screamed, " _What Hufflepuff would kill themselves?!_ " She threw open the door to the kitchen and ran over to a painting in the corner of the room. She practically ripped it off the wall, unveiling a hole in the wall. Elizabeth crawled into the hole and uncovered the painting on the other side. Kiara followed and they found themselves in the Hufflepuff commons, which were completely empty. "They've been evacuated," Elizabeth muttered, storming through the halls and going to the door of the first year girls' dorms. "Locked," she growled when she tried the knob. She took out something from her pocket and shoved it into the small gap between the door and the frame, prying until the door was forced open.

When the two stepped inside, both were horrified. Rose lied dead on one of the beds, her eyes wide open and her body still, her hands rested on her stomach. Elizabeth muttered some shaky curses before moving up to the girl and putting one hand on her neck, the other on her wrist. She continued to examine the body, opening her mouth and pushing the area of her lungs.

"She's dead, Elizabeth. The teachers already checked," Kiara remarked, flatly.

"That's not it," the third year replied shakily, her voice cracking on the last word. "She's been dead since this morning. Asphyxiation. If not, something that messed with her systems. I'm guessing cyanide. Neither could she have done herself. Kiara, search the room. Look for her cat."

Kiara searched, making sure to check everywhere, "He's not there."

"He'll be the only witness," Elizabeth said, "he never left her side."

Then, Kiara spotted a patch of blood in the corner. "There's blood here. I reckon the murderer killed the cat as well."

"No," Elizabeth muttered, "no! The killer would've killed both in the same way if he was a witness. If they stabbed the cat, they'd've stabbed Rose. If they poisoned Rose, they'd've poisoned the cat! Unless…" Elizabeth made her way over to the blood and touched it tentatively. "Fresh," she said, "and definitely animal blood. They were killed at different times. There's no cat body, there's no trail. That means either he was picked up or he was somehow healed."

"Or, the teachers are hiding something. Think about it, they wouldn't want mention of a death in Hogwarts to get out, and they wouldn't want any witnesses. Blaming it on a suicide would be much easier for them, and they've already looked through the room." Kiara was searching for possibilities.

"It's not the teachers, Kiara," Elizabeth said harshly, "the way she was killed was obviously non-magical. There are no spell aftereffects that I can see." Elizabeth lifted her hand and ran her thumb over her other fingers, as if she was trying to feel the air. "Not dark magic. Even _Avada Kedavra_ leaves a small trace of dark magic in the air hours after the murder. I would be able to detect it. Rose doesn't keep a notebook, so we can't get anything from that." Suddenly, Elizabeth's eyes widened. She took out a small flask from her pocket, along with her wand. She pointed the tip at Rose's head and lifted it slowly, generating some sort of wispy silver substance, which poured itself into the flask. Elizabeth quickly opened Rose's trunk and took out a larger bottle of the same substance before turning to Kiara.

"We have to go," she said. Kiara nodded and the two quickly left the room, fleeing back to the Slytherin dorms. In the common room, Elizabeth took out a small bag and flung some of the contents into the fireplace. "66 Springdell Road, Eldwood, Ireland!" she shouted, causing the fire to roar and double inside. "Kiara, walk into the fire."

"What?" Kiara asked "Where are we going?"

"We're going to Ralph's," Elizabeth replied, before she pushed Kiara into the fire.

Kiara stumbled into a room, coughing and wheezing from inhaling to many fumes. When her fit finally subsided, she realised she was in what appeared to be a family room, with plants lining the walls and a telly at the side in front of a couch. "Where am I?" she muttered.

"My place." Kiara jumped as Elizabeth materialised next to her.

"Why?" Kiara asked.

"Because Hogwarts is useless at this point."

"How is your house any better?"

"I have everything we need in my room." Elizabeth motioned for Kiara to follow her, going up the stairs and into the first room on the left. Inside was crammed with all sorts of magical instruments and equipment. Elizabeth walked over to the corner, which had a large bowl atop a pedestal. She dumped the contents of the flasks inside before dunking Kiara in it, face first.

Suddenly, the room around her vanished and she was in the Hufflepuff dorms again, Elizabeth at her side.

"Stop doing that," Kiara muttered.

The other girl ignored her and pointed to the door. "Watch." Suddenly, the door swung open and a girl walked in, locking the door behind her.

"Rose?!" Kiara gasped. " _What?_ "

"It's pensieve," Elizabeth explained, "a sort of memory thing I don't feel like explaining. Rose was an aspiring Legilimens, so she always kept some around. Don't worry, she can't see or hear you."

"That's not cryptic at all," Kiara mumbled sarcastically.

Rose let at a groan and plopped herself down on the bed. "Ugh," Rose picked up Lucifurr, who was on the floor next to her. "This stomach ache is so annoying," she said, stroking the cat. "Maybe I ate something bad. Or my period's coming early." Rose lied down and tossed around her bed.

The room vanished and Kiara was back at Elizabeth's house.

"The memory ends there," Elizabeth muttered. "That means she died right after. Lucifurr is the only witness. She had a stomach ache…"

"She was poisoned." Kiara reasoned.

"Not cyanide," Elizabeth said aloud, furrowing her eyebrows, "or the effects would have been instantaneous. I was wrong. She doesn't eat enough for it to be methoxychlor. Not thallium, or kepone, either."

"It could have been…" Kiara trailed off trying to think, "Snake venom is a lot like that, but where would she get that?"

"Not all snake venoms cause nausea," Elizabeth stated, "and the ones that do also cause swelling, which we would've seen. We can rule that off the list."

"Do you have a computer?" Kiara asked, "We can google it."

"No," Elizabeth said, "My computer's back at the RoR. It can't be castor oil, because Rose would noticed the terrible taste in her food."

"Just guessing is useless. We should get back to Hogwarts, you have your phone there so we can google it."

"I'm not guessing," Elizabeth muttered, "I've used poisons since I was a kid. Yeah, I was a weird kid, but I know this shit."

"Ok, making _educated guesses_ is useless. Let's get back to Hogwarts," Kiara said.

"Oh my god," Elizabeth said out of the blue. "It's methanol."

"What's that?" Kiara asked.

"Tasteless, colourless, liquid poison," Elizabeth said, "it can be used in paint thinners and as a biodiesel. Only four ounces for it to be lethal. Whoever's doing this must be well versed in muggle products. A muggleborn, smaller chance of halfblood. That rules out half of the students and nearly all of the residents in Hogsmeade.

"That's still way too many people," Kiara said, "We need a way to narrow them down even more."

"That means we have to go back," Elizabeth said.

"The teachers probably realized we were gone by now. That means you're going to be in trouble, and I might get expelled, honestly. I'm already on pretty thin ice."

"No, you won't," Elizabeth said confidently. "I've got connections in high places. You know Isla? She knows about my nightly runs. She's already agreed beforehand that she'd provide an alibi if needed."

"Elizabeth," Kiara said tentatively, "Why are you so calm about this? Your friend, and one of your closest ones at that, just died, and you talk as if everything's fine."

Elizabeth's voice turned somber. "I'm coping by working. I'm waiting until I have some time alone. Come on, let's get back."

When the two floo'd back to the Slytherin dorms, Elizabeth turned to face Kiara. "Tomorrow," she said, "You have to find the smartest people you know, the most well versed in muggle technology, and interrogate them. If they pass the interrogation, ask them to join us. We could use extra help."

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear reader-**

 **Ho shit, the plot thickens! This was a particularly fun chapter to write, to be honest with you. I did do a bunch of research on fatal poisons, but I can't be sure if this is one hundred percent accurate. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and leave a review. I've been listening to alot of Khalil Fong lately. I like "Listen" and "No Love."**

 **-Luna**

 **.**

 **I really hope no one ever goes through Luna's search history, for her sake. Anyway, I had tons of fun having Kiara almost get killed because of her sarcasm. One of my favorite parts of the chapter. I don't know what else to say, so thanks for reading our story!**

 **Book Recommendation: Artemis Fowl, By Eoin Colfer**

 **-Lupus**


	8. Chapter VIII

The next morning, Helena woke up from a fitful night's rest. The extra beds in the spare rooms were uncomfortable, and the air around her was dank and filled with the scent of dirt. She blinked a few times and felt dried water at the corner of her eyes. Reality came crashing back down upon her when she realised that Alice, one of her closest friends was dead, and she had cried herself to sleep. Helena squeezed her eyes shut, ridding herself of the thoughts that crept into her mind uninvited. She went to the bathroom and mechanically went through the motions of getting ready, before walking down to breakfast.

After she ate (or, rather, stared and poked at her food half-heartedly), she was surprised to see Kiara quickly approaching her. "Helena," she said, leading her to a slightly more isolated area, "I need to talk to you." Her tone was serious and left no room for argument.

"Uh…" Helena eyed her friendly curiously and, though she hated to admit it, slightly cautiously. "Ok… What do you wanna talk about?"

Kiara smiled, though it looked a little forced. "I just have a few questions for you."

"Oh, cool, what do you want to ask?" Helena questioned.

"So, uhh, you know how Rose died?" Kiara asked, tentatively.

"How do you know about that?" Helena asked suspiciously. She wasn't sure how Kiara had found out, considering Headmistress McGonagall had assured her that word wouldn't get around.

"Never mind that, I have some questions for you about it. First, what were you doing when she died?"

"I was studying transfiguration in the common room," Helena explained, brushing aside her nerves, "And I was going to get Rose, since she said she needed help earlier in the day. But when I went to the dorms, the door was locked. I used _alohamora_ and went inside, but she…" Helena trailed off, wiping away the tears she didn't know had formed.

Kiara's face softened. "Another Slytherin named Elizabeth and I are investigating exactly how she died. Would you like to join us?"

Helena was driven into silence over the offer. She wanted to do it, sure. It would mean really finding out what happened to Rose, and that was something she wanted to know. On the other hand, it would be breaking over half of the rules of the school, and could easily get her expelled. After a long moment of contemplating, Helena finally gave a hesitant, "Sure."

"Cool. Meet me in the potions room at five." And with that, Kiara walked away.

Across the room, Naomi walked out of the Great Hall and towards the direction of her first period, when she was suddenly intercepted by Elizabeth. "Hey, Naomi," she said, smiling, "Ya look a bit more tired than usual. How'd ya sleep?"

"Hi," Naomi replied, smiling back, "I actually stayed up pretty late doing homework."

"For what?" Elizabeth asked. "I don't recall gettin' assigned that much."

"My quidditch captain had the team use up their entire afternoon for practice, so I couldn't get homework done until late last night. I had help though, from Rin."

"The blond one that's really good at charms?"

"Yeah, him."

"Oh," Elizabeth said. "Say, yer a half blood, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do ya happen ta know a lot about muggle technology?"

"A good amount, yeah. Why?"

"I'm in an argument with a friend and they refuse ta take any word from me about muggle stuff bein' better than wizard stuff. Would ya mind pitchin' in and givin' me some counterarguments?"

Naomi paused for a moment, thinking. "Muggles have definitely made better technological advancements in certain areas," she mused, "but that doesn't mean everything in the muggle world is better than what wizards have created. Though a lot of what the wizards use seems to be purely for aesthetic reasons, like quills and stairs instead of pens and lifts."

"But ya do agree with me at the fact that wizards lack knowledge in STEM areas, right?" Elizabeth asked.

"Absolutely," Naomi agreed. "I have yet to see a student born into a complete wizarding family to show an talent in areas involving science, reasoning, and arithmetics."

"See? That's what I said. Nearly everyone I've met can't do long division, much less work with algebra."

"I'm actually rather glad that someone understands this fact, and not just me," Naomi admitted.

"It was lovely havin' a chat with ya, Naomi," Elizabeth said, a half smile on her face, "but we've gotta split. If ya ever find anyone, full wizard or not, that knows a lot about the muggle and wizard world, try ringin' them up with me. I'd love ta meet and have a chat with them."

"Sure," Naomi replied, waving her goodbye as they turned to different hallways.

In the transfiguration classroom, Maya and Helena were talking in hushed voices about what had happened last night. "I can't believe that..." Maya paused and then continued, "that Rose committed suicide. She seemed so happy, what could have made her kill herself?"

"I don't know, but I don't think she killed herself," Helena told her.

Maya looked at the girl strangely. "You seemed so sure that she did yesterday, why do you say that?"

"Well, as you said, she seemed very happy, and had many friends. Besides, don't you think it's strange that there wasn't a note or a clue as to why? I mean, sure, a lot of people don't leave a note, but I feel like Rose would," Helena said, as if thinking outloud.

"Helena, you're acting different. Not so sad, and more determined," Maya said, "What's up?"

Helena shrugged, grasping to come up with an excuse. "I, um, just realized that crying isn't going to help anything. I'd rather search for answers."

"Good point," Maya acknowledged, "I'm going to help you."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm going to help you figure out what happened to Rose. I want to know too," Maya elaborated.

Helena hesitated, "Ok, you can help. We'll tell Headmistress Mcgonagall everything we find out. She'll be able to help us, I'm sure."

After a few weeks, it became that time of year again, where students chose between returning to their homes or staying at Hogwarts. The staff had already begun to decorate the corridors with Christmas decorations by the time most people left the school. The armour would burst out singing different carols the moment anyone walked by, and the walls were lined with large fir trees, all decorated with an assortment of different coloured baubles. However, what was always most exciting, the one that took people's breaths away, was the Great Hall. In it's fully decorated state, the dining area was absolutely stunning. A single, ginormous and grand tree stood tall at the head of the room, draped with silver and gold tinsel, lined with beautifully painted and moving baubles and strings of popped corn. Gentle snow fell down from the roof and vanished the instant it hit the tables. Joyce could only wonder how long it took to make the Great Hall look the way it did.

She was amongst the few that had opted to stay at the school over the winter holidays. Aside from her and Cathy, there were very few other people that she knew were staying at the castle. A quiet Slytherin girl from one of her classes, and two third years that seemed to be everywhere with her, a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw, were students she had seen often around the school. However, Joyce had heard that the older Slytherin had to leave the school halfway through a lesson to attend something or other, as Cathy had told her along with the other mindless gossip she picked up.

The morning of Christmas, Joyce practically jumped out of her bed in excitement. "Cathy!" she shouted, running over to her friend's bed and shaking her by the shoulders. "It's Christmas!"

Cathy groaned and blinked, looking up. "Wa-huh..?" she answered groggily.

"CHRISTMAS! Christ. MAS!" At those words, Cathy jolted awake. "I'll open my presents when you do!"

The two sat down in the middle of the dormitory, unwrapping all of the things that lied at the foot of their beds. Joyce got a load of presents from her parents, along with a bunch of different muggle goodies that seemed fascinating from Cathy. Cathy had squealed when she found out that Joyce got her ten different magic animal plushies that acted as if they were alive. Both of the Gryffindors went over to the Great Hall, where all of the tables were connected to form one large square, which was topped with a heaping amount of different foods. Gigantic stuffed turkey, a huge ham roast, wizard crackers, tubs of mashed potatoes, and so much more were piled onto the tables. The older Slytherin girl was standing on the seats, arms akimbo. She was decked out in enough flannel to give heat stroke to every country above the arctic circle, with colours basically screaming American patriotism. Two white cats were draped languidly on her shoulders, one of them half the size of the other.

"I'm the ultimate cat lady!" she cackled. "Now with Lukas ta my collection, I have achieved the grand honour of Master Cat Owner!"

"Who got you the cat, Luke, or whatever?" the Ravenclaw asked, her holiday sweater cheery and vibrant.

"His name is Lukas," she corrected, "and my brother sent him, along with a care package full of SuperWhoLock merch, a SCOTTeVEST, a bunch of black hoodies, an' a 2016 Panic! At The Disco 'Death of a Bachelor' Tour shirt, since I missed my chance."

"Emo," the younger Slytherin pitched, not looking up from her book.

"I'm not- oh for God's sake! I'm done with ye." Joyce and Cathy found a seat on the opposite end of the table and started eagerly plating things in front of them.

"Oh my god," Cathy moaned as she took heaping bites of the food, "I can finally die happy now. This is so good, it's blowing my mind. I am so glad I decided to stay behind."

"This is really good," Joyce agreed, eating much more reasonable portions of food. "And I'm glad I get to spend Christmas with you."

"Aww," Cathy gushed, nudging her friend playfully, "shucks. That's sweet."

"It's more fun with friends," Joyce shrugged. "My parents would never let me bring over the kids from my neighborhood to my house because they were all muggles."

"What's your house like?" Cathy asked.

"It's really big, but it's empty. There's just my parents and me, along with our house elf, Mimi."

"I'd like to come over some time."

"Sure! That'd be fun." The two continued to eat to their hearts' content as they talked about whatever came to mind. When they finished, the two headed back to the Gryffindor common room, where Joyce proceeded to plop down on the couch's armrest. Her stomach was full and she needed some time and space to process all of the food she had inhaled.

"CATHY!" Cathy exclaimed, running into her and hugging her from behind. "It snowed last night! Do you want to build a snowman?"

"Wait, really?" Joyce flung open the curtains of the common room and pressed her face against the glass. Just like her friend had said, the entire area of the castle and beyond was covered with a thick layer of white, blanketing the grounds and further than she could see. Never mind taking a break, this was indefinitely more important. "Are we allowed to go out?"

"Yeah!" Cathy nodded excitedly, "I asked Professor Longbottom and he said it's totally fine!"

"Oh my god, let's go!" Moments later, the two Gryffindors were hurling snowballs at each other and laughing joyously. It had started out much peacefully, where Cathy rolled and stacked large balls of snow on top of each other, despite Joyce insisting for her to use magic.

"It's more fun this way!" Cathy protested. "Everyone can use magic to make perfect snowmen, but not everyone can make authentic ones from scratch without any help from wands!" After that, the two spent time adding things to the snow man, like pebbles for eyes, a dopey drawn-on smiley face, two twigs for arms, and a Gryffindor scarf.

"Now everyone will know it belongs to our house," Joyce proclaimed. "And all the Slytherins can go cry in their dungeons because theirs aren't nearly as cool as ours." The two continued to do things in the snow, Cathy making a mini snowman to accommodate the big one and Joyce decided to make snow angels. Out of the blue, Cathy had accidentally dropped a particularly large snowball on Joyce's face.

After a deadly pause, Joyce had slowly risen before lobbing a snowball had her friend's head and screaming, "I hate you!" The two then proceeded to chuck and launch snowballs at each other, Joyce opting to use magic and Cathy deciding to hand make her snow spheres of death. Eventually, both of them ran out of energy and collapsed onto the ground in a fit of giggles.

"Hey, Joyce," Cathy said when she managed to regain her breath. "I had this funky dream last night. There was this, like, block of ham, right? It had a honey glazing and pineapple rings too! But it wasn't actually ham! When I ate a piece, it tasted like watermelon! And then, get this, there was a dancing mango wearing sunglasses! Not only that, but there was an apple and an orange as background dancers for the mango! Strange, right?"

"Of course you dreamt of food, you glutton," Joyce teased lightheartedly. "I had a dream, too. There was this weird girl with black hair, and she looked kinda scared for some reason. I don't know. And then she was like, 'You're going to-!' and then the dream ended." Now that she thought about it, Joyce faintly remembered seeing the girl in the halls of the school and even one of her classes. _That can't be possible_ , Joyce chided herself, _it was probably just someone that looked alike_.

"Woah, that's deep," Cathy commented.

"Nah," Joyce said, "maybe she was trying to say I was going to have a good day or something."

"But then why would she be scared?" Cathy asked.

"I don't know," Joyce shrugged. "Maybe she was trying to say I would eat too much for dinner. Or maybe she was trying to say I was going to eat ham that was actually watermelon."

"Haha, maybe," Cathy laughed. "Wanna go back inside? We should probably get cleaned before we eat lunch."

"A hot bath," Joyce mused, "maybe with flower petals and rose water and vanilla scented candles."

"And a masseuse," Cathy added.

Joyce scrunched up her face. "That's weird, though. Someone in the bathroom with you? Touching you? Like sure, they're massaging you, but you're naked! Doesn't that make you uncomfortable?"

"Well, I mean, now that you say it like that," Cathy said.

The two headed off to the bathrooms, Joyce opting to go after Cathy, who magicked all of Joyce's suggestions into the bathroom. Cathy had never had a more comfortable, relaxing, calming bath in her entire life. When she got out, she replaced the petals, candles, and water with new ones, despite Cathy insisting she didn't have to. Cathy headed back to the common rooms and decided to finally take a short break.

Whilst she waited for her friend to finish up, Cathy made herself a cup of hot chocolate from the powder mix her parents sent her and a mug of hot milk a house elf handed her. Cathy sat down at one of the arm chairs, curling up and sipping as she watched fresh snowflakes drift past the window. The common room was toasty, the sound of the fire crackling soothed her ears, and the smell of cinnamon and gingerbread filled the air. Perhaps it really was a perfect Christmas. It certainly was Cathy's best.

Cathy continued to savour the comfortable silence and warmth for a few minutes as she hummed Christmas carols under her breath. However, as time crept by, Cathy started to wonder what was taking Joyce so long. _Maybe she's just one of those people that like taking long baths_ , she thought, pushing her worries aside. After over an hour had passed, Cathy started becoming worried. _Should I go check on her?_ she asked herself, _No, that would be kind of awkward._

When the time Joyce had been gone had hit two hours, Cathy started to panic. _Oh my god, what if she slipped and hit her head against the wall? Maybe she has a concussion! Or maybe she got lost and abducted! Or- or- OH MY GOD! What if she left something in the bathroom and went to go get it, but Pennywise killed her!_ After a solid five minutes of absolute horror, Cathy took in a deep breath. "Think rationally," she murmured to herself. _Okay, let's go tell Professor Longbottom-_

"Miss Harper?" Cathy turned and saw her Head of House walking into the common room. "Is there something wrong? You look nervous."

"Professor Longbottom!" Cathy gasped, half in shock and half in thankfulness. "Have you seen Joyce? She's been gone for two hours!"

The professor shook his head, looking slightly flustered. "Not recently. The last time I saw her was right as she was leaving the Great Hall with you." These words didn't help reassure Cathy at all. As a matter of fact, they only seemed to make her even more nervous than before.

"Do you mind helping me look for her?" Cathy asked. "I could go to the baths and maybe you could check around the halls?"

"Sure," he nodded. "You should try calming down. There's always the possibility of her getting lost, or forgetting to get something."

"I really hope so." Cathy and Professor Longbottom split apart, the former dashing over to the girls' bathroom. When she entered, the room was completely empty and eerily quiet, save for the quiet sloshing of the tubs.

"Joyce?" Cathy called out, her voice echoing throughout the room as she stepped around, looking for her friend. "Joyce, are you here? It's been two hours! You'll become all wrinkly if you stay in here too long!" She walked around and through the steam rising from the baths, shivering slightly from the cold.

Wait.

"Why is it cold?" Cathy murmured, continuing to look around. She noticed that the windows were wide open and headed over to them. Right as she reached it, she stretched her arm out to grab the handle and happened to look down. What Cathy saw made her let out an ear piercing scream.

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **OooooooOOOOoooh. Hiff clanger. And I'm sorry if the last two chapters have been a bit on the shoddy side in terms of writing. The two of us have a _really_ hard time writing touchy-feely scenes, since both of us don't really experience emotions to this drastic of a level. Lupus only feels different forms of anger and I have no idea how to write out pain. (Personally, I didn't want the story to go this direction, but Lupus said murder was good and I trust her more than I trust myself to work on plot.)**

 **Aside from that, I hope you liked the story. I've been listening to a lot of (tropical) house and some electro swing, but nothing specific. I've also listened to Awesome Mix Vol. 2, even though I haven't seen any of the GotG movies (I should be getting to them this weekend.) That's it for today.**

 **-Luna**

 **(P.S. Kiara has no subtlety or chill.)**

 **(P.P.S. Our characters apparently have no grasp of suicide and depression, even if Rose didn't have problems with either. Please don't get offended.)**

 **.  
**

 **I already typed this note out, and I'm too lazy to say everything again, so you'll just get a recap.**

 **One. I finished Nightfall, a book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, and after patiently waiting a whole year all I get is another cliff hanger. Ugh.**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! We've got much more investigation and murder planned so stay tuned!**

 **Book Rec: Nightfall, by Shannon Messenger.**

 **See you,**

 **Lupus**

 **[She fucked up on mobile lol -Luna]**


	9. Chapter IX

After the students had returned from their winter holiday, three students were having a meeting in one of the unused classrooms. "Okay," Elizabeth said, slamming her hands down on the desk in front of her. "We know that Rose was killed by poison, but how was Joyce killed?"

"She fell five stories," Kiara said, "from the girl's bathroom window. Even with the snow, it isn't possible that she could have survived."

"So, she was pushed or she jumped," Helena concluded.

"She didn't jump," Kiara stated flatly. "Not on Christmas, with Catherine waiting for her in the common room. It doesn't make any sense."

"The two don't have anythin' in common, other than bein' first year girls," Elizabeth said, "so why would they be targets? I'm assumin' that if our serial killer's gonna be killin' people, there has ta be somethin' that links them all. There ain't a link between the two victims."

"Maybe the killer is just killing to… kill," Kiara suggested.

"Then that would mean we're dealin' with someone that ain't good up in their head," Elizabeth stated. "An' that could be even worse. At least with a serial killer that has some form of organization usually also has some emotional grudge. Well, at least most of the times."

"But, what if they are actually suicides?" Helena wondered.

"Serial suicides?" Elizabeth asked, raising her eyebrows. "Nope. That's stupid. I've watched _A Study In Pink_ enough times to know that it's _never_ serial suicides." Elizabeth continued to pace and mutter under her breath before she snapped her fingers and smiled. " _A Study In Pink!_ That's it! How could I forget? Our killer could be bein' sponsored!" When the two other girls showed no sign of understanding, Elizabeth sighed. "The killer coulda been paid ta do all of this stuff. People do all kinds of wacko stuff ta get money."

"Like you?" Kiara asked.

"No, not like me," Elizabeth replied. "Black market, illegal importation, an' more illegal stuff ain't considered wacko."

"If the killer is being paid, who's the sponsor?" Helena asked. All of them silenced as the question loomed over.

After a long pause, Elizabeth cut in with, "I don't wanna know. So let's assume our murderer is freelance. They're killin' random young girls and makin' it look like a suicide. From what we can tell, our killer is also really well versed in muggle objects."

"And they stayed over during the Christmas break," Kiara said.

"We could ask Headmistress McGonagall for the list of students that stayed over," Helena suggested.

"That would make us look really suspicious," Elizabeth said, shaking her head. "We can't risk that."

"We could use that memory thing to see who was in the Great Hall during Christmas," Kiara offered.

Elizabeth thought for a moment. "That'd be a good idea," she mused, "but not everyone might be in the Great Hall. There are a load of reasons why someone wouldn't go, whether they were fastin', not hungry, or just not in the mood. The smartest idea, like Helena had said, would be ta get the list of people that stayed at Hogwarts from one of the teachers. We'd have ta lie and come up with a good excuse so we don't look too obvious. Anyway, do ya guys have any idea who we're dealin' with?"

"I would think it's a girl, since both times, the killer struck at a girls only area," Helena said, "but it still could be a boy that disobeyed the rules."

"Probably someone older too, since they seem to know a lot," Kiara continued. "Or at least enough to perfectly cover up their tracks."

Elizabeth took out a sheet of parchment and jotted down everything they had said. "If they had killed Rose," she said, drawing a rough map of the Hufflepuff dorms, "there are several ways the could have escaped. Through the trapdoor, the regular exit, or some other magical means, whether it be portkey or teleportation. Not apparition, since that doesn't work within Hogwarts. They could have cast a Disillusionment Charm, but the cats there would have sniffed them out. So, portkey?"

"That's fifth year and up," Helena said, "Though I have read some theories on it, I'd never try it out."

"And there are a few people I know that are like me, so we can narrow it down to fifth through seventh," Elizabeth claimed. "And they have to be daring enough to go against the Ministry rules. If we can get our hands on the list, we'll gain a significant lead."

Suddenly, the door opened and a Ravenclaw prefect looked in. "What are you-?!" Before he could utter another word, Elizabeth had whipped out her wand and pointed it at him.

" _Obliviate_!" The prefect's eyes rolled back into his head and he crumpled to the floor. "Well then," she said, nudging the boy with her foot, "we should probably get goin' before anyone else starts lookin' for us. Oh yeah, take this." Elizabeth handed Helena and Kiara both a roll of parchment paper. They opened it up and inside was a script of everything that had just said, along with the date, time, and classroom written at the top.

"It'll turn super cold when I decide another meetin' an' the date will change," Elizabeth explained. "An' it records everything we say. Ye'll only be able to see it if ya say the password, which is 'This is illegal, but I'm doing it anyway.' And don't roll yer eyes at the password, Kiara, because it was the only thing that I knew teachers wouldn't say. To turn it blank again, just say, 'I broke the law and it was fun.' If ya want ta see the past meetings, say, 'How many times have I broken the law?' Fred gave me the idea, when he was mentioning somethin' about a map an' a galleon or somethin'."

"There were tons of other things you could've made the password. Honestly, Elizabeth, I thought you were better than this."

"It's my creation," Elizabeth retorted, "I get to do whatever I want with it. It ain't like you know how ta make this, so ya can shut yer ungrateful little mouth."

"Honestly, with the way you two squabble, it's a wonder you get anything done." Helena muttered, loud enough that they could hear.

"We get plenty done!" Kiara exclaimed, "Elizabeth just likes being an emo idiot so much, that we argue."

"Why are you usin' emo as an insult?" Elizabeth asked, "Being emo is, like, a persona. That I don't have. Weeb is a proper insult. But don't use weeb, since ya don't even know what it means."

Kiara merely shrugged. "One, you are an emo. Two, I don't care."

"There are these times where I think, 'wow, Kiara is decently smart,'" Elizabeth said, "and then there are theses other times where I think, 'wow, Kiara is ridiculously irrational and doesn't know half of the things she's sayin'.' This would be one of those times. Especially since ya listen to alternative rock yerself, which falls under 'emo.'"

"Woah! You think I'm smart!?" Kiara asked, ignoring the last parts, and grinning cheekily "I am so honored, I didn't know you thought that about me."

"No, actually, I just think yer annoyin' most of the times. Like…" Elizabeth paused for a moment, thinking. "Yer like the impersonation of when yer browser is loadin' and just as ya hit the exit, it boots up, an' ya spend the next ten minutes wonderin' what yer doin' with yer life."

"And yet, you still hang around," Kiara pointed out, smirking, "You wouldn't do that unless you liked me."

"Yeah, I am startin' to question my morals," Elizabeth replied. "I should start talkin' to people that're actually in my grade. I heard Lilith was single. Maybe I should ask her ta coffee sometime. But I figured she probably liked Arina instead, so maybe we'd just be friends. But honestly, like, the one lesbian in Slytherin an' she's got hots for someone else."

"You're a lesbian?" Kiara asked, looking confused, "Weren't you just talking about some boy the other day? Benedril Cucumber or something?"

"Nah, I ship Ben with Martin Freeman," Elizabeth said, waving her hand. "And, no, I'm not lesbian, I'm panromantic."

Helena looked between them, confused, "What? You guys were just yelling at each other and now, you're talking about pans? You have a pretty confusing friendship."

"If ye could call it a 'friendship,'" Elizabeth scoffed. "It's more like… See, Kiara doesn't have, like, any friends aside from me in Slytherin. So I, bein' the sympathetic an' nice person I am, take it ta me and I talk ta her. I could probably find a better partner in crime, though, since she's an awful sidekick."

Kiara didn't seem particularly offended, though she did retort with a, "Ok, first of all, you're the sidekick. Second of all, the only reason I don't have any other friends in Slytherin is the fact that I don't like anyone in it. Take Natalia for example, she's horrid. I was rather astonished that our house had such bad members."

"I actually quite like Nat," Elizabeth quipped. "She's got a super philosophical view on life an' when she talks about the deeper meanin' of beein' alive, ya kinda just get sucked in an' yer mind gets blown. She talked about how everythin' around us was a hallucination this one time, and Jesus, I was questionin' myself for weeks. An' Florence makes the best dick jokes in the century. Her an' Nolan, who makes innuendos for a livin', make the best duo in terms of sex jokes."

"You know, Kiara," Helena started, "I think if you were a little bit nicer-" She didn't finish her thought, instead covering her ears and whining at the sound of the, as she called them, D and S words.

"Jesus was never reborn, he was a real person, but never reborn, first off." Kiara started, "And second, don't use those words. There are innocent minds here!" Kiara said, patting Helena on the shoulder.

"Dick an' sex?" Elizabeth repeated, shooting the two a questioning glance. "What? They're that bad? That wipes out over half of my vocabulary. And ya don't gotta go all religious mojo on me. I wasn't, like, goin' against religion or whatever."

"Well, you said something about Jesus and my Jewish mind immediately went, 'nope,'" Kiara huffed. "And yes, don't curse in front of Helena. She's too precious."

"What the hell happened ta our conversation?" Elizabeth asked aloud. Suddenly, she froze and patted the inside of her pockets. "Shit, one of my deliveries just came in. See y'all later." And with that, Elizabeth left.

"Shipments?" Helena asked aloud.

"You don't need to know," Kiara stated.

A week or so later, Helena sat in History of Magic, listening with fascination as Professor Binns droned on and on about the witch revolt in the early first century. Out of the blue, she let out a slight yelp. Everyone in the classroom turned towards her, confusion on half of their faces. "Uh- um, there's a wasp!" she said hurriedly, pointing towards the window.

 _Liz didn't say it was this cold_! Helena thought, shivering slightly. _I feel like the arctic tundra is growing in my pocket!_ When no one was focused on her anymore and continuing to fall asleep during the professor's lecture, Helena took out the ice cold sheet of parchment and unfolded it. "This is illegal," she whispered, "but I'm doing it anyway." In elegant calligraphy, the words _Tonight, 22 o'clock, the Kitchens_ wrote itself across the top. Right under it, in hastily scrawled cursive, were the words:

 _Elizabeth: Helena, there's a hidden trapdoor next to the big sunflower rug. Kiara, just wait for me in the common room.  
_ _Elizabeth: I got my hands on the list._

Hours later, Kiara sat in the common room, arms crossed and sitting on the couch, long after everyone had gone to sleep. "What's taking her so long?"

"I got caught up with some business." Kiara whipped her head around and saw Elizabeth shrugging off a winter coat and snapping her fingers, causing it to vanish. "What?" she asked, "Yer lookin' at me funny."

"I'm not sure which is more surprising," Kiara said, "the fact that you're dressed up in muggle attire to do 'business' or that you just did wandless and nonverbal magic. Or if it's surprising at all, considering it's you."

"I'm a smart cookie," Elizabeth laughed, making her way over to the fire place. "I'm know a lot." She pushed the wall a bit and, much to Kiara's surprise, the wall began to turn, like a revolving door, revealing a set of stairs on the other side. "Leads ta the outside of the kitchens," Elizabeth explained. "Found it last year when I was floo talkin' ta my brother in my first year." Elizabeth took out her wand and the tip light up. The two ventured down the stairwell, with Elizabeth leading the way. After a few minutes of walking, Elizabeth tapped her wand on Kiara's head to cast a Disillusionment Charm. Kiara felt as if someone had cracked a head on top of her head and the whites covered her whole body. All in all, not an experience she would want to go through again. Elizabeth pushed open a fake wall before pointing her wand at herself and disappearing too. The two made their way to the painting of the fruits before entering the kitchens

"Hey!" Helena said, waving as she bit into a manchester tart. "So, you got the list of students that stayed during Christmas?"

"McGee's got awful security," Elizabeth stated, pulling out a sheet of parchment and laying it on the table, "Fontaine's was two times harder ta break into, and he found out a few hours later and gave me an award for being the first since he became principal. Oi, Quincy, can ya get me a coffee?" After Elizabeth had got a steaming mug of caffeine, she began to read the list. "Marceline LeBlanc. That's Isla's friend, one of the Ravenclaw prefects. She's innocent. Max Walterson. Anyone know him?"

"He's a Hufflepuff," Helena said. "One of the older ones. He's really nice and he bakes cookies in Muggle Studies for all of us."

"Okay, we'll mark him as innocent. Maybelle Cooper?"

"She's a Ravenclaw in Lauren's year," Kiara said. "They're friends."

"Probably innocent as well, with that kind of name. Rex McGovern?"

"He's a really rude Gryffindor, but I don't think he'd kill anyone," Helena said.

"I'm gonna put him down as maybe. But probably not, since that would mean he killed one of his own. Cain Sullivan. I know him, an' he doesn't know bat shit about no-maj stuff, though he's smart."

"Don't say that word," Helena protested.

They continued to go through all of the names and marking which ones they thought were innocent. "Mary Knight?"

"I have no idea who that is," Kiara admitted.

"Neither do I," Helena agreed.

"Okay, she's maybe. Do any of ya guys know Chelsea Mason?"

"Nope."

"I might have seen her," Helena muttered.

"I feel like I've seen her at some point in the hallways," Elizabeth mused. "We'll mark her as maybe too. Michael Duncanson?"

"Innocent," Helena said immediately. "There's no way he'd murder someone."

"I haven't watched that many movies," Kiara asked, almost to herself, "but aren't the so called 'innocent ones' always the murders?"

Helena shook her head. "That's a movie trope. Besides, I'm sure Michael would never kill anyone."

"In theory," Elizabeth mused, "that could technically be true. Facades can easily fool, trust can easily be broken. However, like Helena said, it is a heavily used movie trope, since surprises are meant ta shock the audience. If we finish investigatin' all of the 'non innocent' ones, we can move on ta the safe people an' take a look at them. But if we suspect these people more, it'll be safer ta check them before the others. In my mind, at least."

"Also, how exactly are we going to investigate these people?" Kiara asked. "None of them are in first year, and we can't exactly follow anyone around, to see if they're secretly murders."

"I guess that would be where my power falls inta place," Elizabeth shrugged. "I've got peeps in high places that'll be completely willin' to help. All else fails, there are certain ways ta watch their movements from afar, or ta subtly sneak them inta conversations without givin' too much away."

"Unfortunately, subtlety is not my strong point," Kiara pointed out, "I'll figure something out though," She paused, "Hopefully."

The three stayed up until midnight working on the list. There were an abundance of older students that had stayed over, majority of which they didn't know. Most of the people, they deemed innocent, but the rest were all unclear. However, there wasn't a single name where they were absolutely sure that they were the killer. With almost no leads, the three parted their ways, Helena through the trapdoor and Kiara and Elizabeth back through the stairwell.

The next few days went past with no particularly interesting or notable events. Without a certain Hufflepuff to spectacularly fail in each one of the classes, the subjects became dull and repetitive. Each night, the three would meet somewhere new to discuss the case, but didn't manage to get any leads.

One night, Kiara was having a rather calming sleep, lulled into the bizarre land of her dreams. She was walking along the side of the River Thames, the city noises around her like the voice of the teacher from Charlie Brown. Suddenly, it began to rain, but instead of the normal clear droplets of water, the rain was an odd shade of bright purple, gathering in little clumps on the streets. Her dream began to fade, turning hazy until a blurry humanoid shape replaced it and continuously said something that she couldn't understand. The voice was muffled and oddly contorted, like the person was speaking underwater. Kiara looked at the odd shape, furrowing her eyebrows. _What's it trying to say?_ she thought. _Sand… dances… bowling tonight?_ Now that she thought about it, the person in her dream vaguely resembled Rose-

A loud _BANG_ tore through the air, jolting Kiara awake and scaring the wits out of her. Immediately after that was incoherent screaming from upstairs. In a dazed confusion, Kiara padded her way up to the older girls' dormitories and reached the third year room, the door ajar. She pushed her way open and immediately wished she hadn't.

Mortified students were the first thing Kiara saw. Blood was the second. Then, she saw the girl lying on the floor with an old model of a handgun pointed at her head.

 _Elizabeth_.

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **Ho shit man. I killed off my favourite character just because I thought she was being to useful. I am one evil person. I'm also super glad Lupus and I wrote chapters in advance, since we've basically given up drying to write the next scene and we've taken a week long break. If you're reading this and you're super good at writing action sequences, PM us. We need help. (If I like you a lot and you're a registered beta, I'll make you the official beta reader!) Also, happy late Thanksgiving!**

 **I've been listening to an awful lot of indie-pop this week. I like "Medusa" by Kailee Morgue and "COPYCAT" by Billie Eilish. (I also have Blood/Water by grandson stuck in my head)**

 **-Luna**

 **(P.S. I'm soo sorry this is like a week late. Lupus had problems.)**


	10. Chapter X

The only thing Kiara could think as she walked to the headmistresses office was that she really hoped this wouldn't land her in getting suspended, or expelled, from one too many snarky comments and arguments. She really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone about Elizabeth's death, and she got reckless when she was angry.

Moments earlier, an older student had walked into her potions class, looking breathless and glancing around the room. "Is there an Kiara Belyarchik?" she asked. Kiara tentatively raised her hand. "You need to report to the Headmistress' office." Oh no, she thought, sinking into her chair. And there she was, standing in front of a griffin… door, awkwardly waiting for someone to let her in.

"Are you here to see the Headmistress?" Kiara turned and saw a man she didn't recognise in polished wizard robes and a bowler hat.

Biting back a sarcastic comment, she nodded.

The two entered the office and the man walked to the side, allowing Kiara to go up to her desk, where McGonagall sat. The room was sparse, with no decoration other than portraits of past headmasters and mistresses. _It's a little underwhelming_ , she thought as she glanced around the room.

"As you know," Headmistress McGonagall said slowly, "a friend of yours, Miss Collingwood, has recently passed." _No really? I thought, she just, I don't know, left on vacation, and left her body behind,_ Kiara thought, sarcastically. "Though I do not exactly… approve of what she did on a daily basis," the headmistress continued, "I cannot refuse a deceased girl's wish. For some reason, she had written a will, and has left these items in your possession." The headmistress motioned for the man to come over, and he handed her a beaten old trunk with gold lining.

Headmistress McGonagall placed a briefcase in Kiara's hands, along with- "Luke?" Kiara said aloud, looking at the white cat. The cat hissed, it's deadpanned stare containing an abnormal amount of malice and hatred. "Lukas," Kiara corrected herself before turning back the the headmistress. "Can I leave now?"

"Yes, you may return to your classes."

When she finally returned to her bed, Kiara unlatched the trunk and gaped at the strange contents inside. All of them seemed like things Elizabeth would own, but Kiara had always pegged her as a more organised person, and not someone to randomly chuck items with no similarities into a single trunk. A switchblade, a pack of tarot cards, two battered journals (one much smaller and one with a blue cover), a sheet of parchment, a folded up piece of printer paper, a few books, a miniature typewriter, an old handgun, and a wand.

Kiara ignored all the items to pick up the gun, which she got a weird rush of delight from having. _So this is what Elizabeth meant,_ she thought, flipping the gun in her hand, _being in power does feel pretty good._ Kiara set the gun back down and closed the trunk, uninterested in everything else inside. She looked around and spotted Lukas curled up in the corner, his body completely frozen and his blank eyes staring into nothing.

Kiara walked over to the cat and was about to pick him up before he hissed and glared menacingly at her. "Oh, come _on_ ," she whined, "just let me pick you up." Lukas ignored her and padded over to the trunk, motioning with his head towards the latch. Kiara furrowed her eyebrows and opened the trunk in slight confusion. Lukas pulled out the typewriter with his mouth and began using his nose to click on the buttons before taking the paper out and handing it to her.

 _Don't touch me._

Kiara looked at the cat, then back at the paper, then back at the cat. "What?" Lukas pawed the sheet of paper before taking it back and typing more.

 _Elizabeth left you the trunk because she thought you wouldn't be an idiot and actually use the stuff inside. And no, I wasn't at her death. And no, I don't know what any of the items actually are. I'm a cat._

"Fine, fine, Honestly, I'm just surprised Elizabeth had that much faith in me. She was more stupid then I thought," she grumbled, opening the trunk again, slightly peeved at the fact that she was just told off by a cat. Looking at Lukas, she asked, "Hey, do you like snakes? Because Hermes is always complaining about being bored, it's getting annoying. Also, you're sort of creeping me out, staring at me like that. Don't you have better things to do with your time?"

Lukas looked at her with the utmost contempt and typed out, _Elizabeth told me to guard the box. She'd hit you up top the head if she knew you were really this ignorant. And no, I will not "play" with your silly reptilian monster._

Kiara laughed, "God, you and Elizabeth were a match made in heaven. And ok, I'll look at the items. If you go and play with Hermes." She flashed him a smirk.

Lukas made a very human like expression nearly identical to nose wrinkling. _I will not play with your snake. I refuse. Inspect the items. Now._

Kiara shrugged, but instead of looking at the items, she opened a book, and started to read. However, before she could even read two sentences, Lukas bit down on her wrist. "Ow," Kiara complained half-heartedly, "You know what? I'm sort of sick of you."

Picking the cat up by his neck, Kiara carried him into a cage, and locked it, before putting it next to Hermes' cage. Before she could savour her moment of victory, Lukas tapped the cage and the bars melted, allowing him to get out. He padded over to the trunk and pointed to it with his tail.

"Ugh, I _hate_ magic cats," Kiara muttered, turning to Lukas, "And you're just making me more stubborn, I will not open the box."

Lukas narrowed his eyes before typing out, _I will make you slap yourself if you do not inspect the items._

Pointing her wand at Lukas, Kiara muttered a spell, and grinned. "I'd like to see you try." Lukas' eyes starting glowing an eerie white colour and Kiara was suddenly overcome with a peculiar urge to hit herself in the face. _What_ is _this cat_? She thought, _why is it so damn powerful?_ The urge intensified, but so did her will to not inflicted damage on herself. The end result was Kiara making some weird hand gesture and swiping off her pillow in the process.

"I'm not slapping myself," she told Lukas, "Give it up." Lukas bit Kiara again, this time slightly harder.

"Why did Elizabeth decide to give me Satan incarnated as a pet?" Kiara whined, glaring at Lukas.

 _Because Rose is dead and Elizabeth didn't know Naomi well enough,_ Lukas typed out furiously. _But she told me that she anticipated you to not understand anything she left you. Now, inspect the items or I will unleash helvete on your insolent little mind._

"I don't think so," Kiara told him. "I won't inspect the items until you stop annoying me." Lukas jumped off the bed, padded over to the corner of the room, and curled up, glaring at Kiara. "Yes!" Kiara cheered, "I won!" Lukas made a noise similar to huffing before waving his tail and conjuring magic butterflies to look at.

Kiara finally opened the trunk and took out the switchblade, inspecting it to see if there was anything special about it. When she was satisfied there wasn't, she put it down and took out the tarot cards, which her hate for divination urged her to throw away. However, she ignored the it, since Elizabeth wouldn't place them there if they didn't have a meaning. Satisfied there was nothing too special about those either she moved on to the next item, the wand. She pegged it as Elizabeth's wand, and decided to try a spell out with it.

"Lumos," she tried, but nothing happened. Narrowing her eyes, Kiara tried again. "Lumos," she repeated, this time more forcefully. Again, nothing happened. Sulking, Kiara threw it across the room. "Well, that's useless," she muttered. The butterflies around Lukas dissipated as he glared at Kiara, padding over to the wand. He picked it up with his mouth and gently placed it back into the case before going back to his previous spot.

Still sulking, Kiara picked up the next item; a leather bound book with gold trimming titled _Fortune-Telling For Beginners: Tarot Addition._ "She didn't," Kiara muttered, "She's been trying to get me to see the value for divination for forever. I'm not starting just because she's dead." Setting the book aside, Kiara picked up a second one, which she recognised as Elizabeth's prized _Quidditch Through the Ages_. _Woah_ , Kiara thought, _she must have been out of her mind. I thought she'd want it locked up so no one could ever touch it._ The last book, which was by far the strangest, was titled _War Eagles: The Story of the Eagle Squadron_ , the book in a run down condition and the colours slightly washed out. _Why does she have a book about eagles_? Kiara wondered, _that's stupid._

Putting the book away she turned to the parchment and opened it up, only to find it blank. Kiara groaned inwardly. "Why is everything so hard to figure out," she complained out loud. Turning it around, she noticed something vaguely familiar with it, and took out the parchment Elizabeth had given Shruthi and her at one of the meetings. Comparing the two, she noticed that they were relatively similar, save for the fact that this one was bigger. She muttered, "This is illegal but I'm doing it anyway"

In a hasty but elegant scrawl, words wrote itself on the paper. _Miss Collingwood would like to inform Miss Belyarchik that this is the master copy, and not the other ones._

"Yes!" Kiara cheered, "I can finally change the password!"

 _Miss Collingwood would like to inform Miss Belyarchik that no, the passwords are unchangeable. Also, that is not the password. Miss Collingwood does not quite understand what Miss Belyarchik is trying to say._

"Miss Collingwood is dead, so shut up." Kiara told the parchment.

 _Miss Collingwood would like to inform Miss Belyarchik that she is not speaking, so she can't possibly shut up. Also, that is not the password._

"Ok…" Kiara muttered, and tried again, "I am an emo loser," she told the parchment.

 _Miss Collingwood would like to very aggressively inform Miss Belyarchik that she prefers electronic dance music over post-punk and alternative rock._

"Ugh, I am a Panic! At the Disco fan," she tried once again.

 _Miss Collingwood would like to inform Miss Belyarchik that, though she is correct on the statement, it is not the password. However, Miss Collingwood would also like to point out that groups of people are often referred to as gangs._

"Uhhh, what?" Kiara asked, confused.

 _Miss Collingwood would like to repeat herself by pointing out the fact that groups of people are often referred to as gangs. She would also like to wink, if that was physically possible._

"Ummmm, I am part of a gang?" Kiara all but asked.

 _Miss Collingwood would like to point out that Miss Belyarchik is a dense piece of shit, and that her attempts should be similar to those of the other parchment sheets._

Scowling, Kiara didn't guess the answer but instead said, "Miss Belyarchik is wondering how Miss Collingwood didn't know that she was a dense piece of shit, and somehow put faith in her to guess the password. If anything, this means that Miss Collingwood was the dense piece of shit."

 _Miss Collingwood would like to revive herself from the dead so she can rise up kick Miss Belyarchik's skinny little ass over the Great Wall of China. Also, Miss Collingwood would like to very obviously give out the hint that SHE IS THE LEADER OF THE GANG, AND PERHAPS THAT WOULD BE A PASSWORD._

Kiara smiled, and said, "Miss Belyarchik is delighted to know that Miss Collingwood thinks that she is skinny."

 _Miss Collingwood would like to inform Miss Belyarchik that she is so done with her. At this point, blind guessing would be better than attempting to hint at something._ Kiara let out a half growl, half groan of frustration before she put the parchment back inside and took out the printer paper. She unfolded it and, after a long minute of waiting for text to appear, Kiara deemed it as a completely ordinary. She put it back and finally addressed the last two items; two slightly worn down notebooks.

She took the smaller one and took of the strap, opening it up to the first page. After a long moment of silence, ink started to appear on the page, forming calligraphic handwriting that read, _Lisa_. Kiara let out a long groan, falling into her pillow and screaming in frustration. "Another goddamn password," she muttered, rubbing her temples and staring at the paper. "Who the hell is Lisa? Why should I care about Lisa?"

A pause went by before the word was replaced with _home_. "Is this supposed to mean something to me?" Kiara demanded, her common sense leaving her as she resorted into yelling at an inanimate object.

The word disappeared, and instead was replaced with, _No, that's the second hint. You said it yourself. It's another password. Dumbass._

"Why," Kiara stated flatly, "Just why. If you think I can guess a password from 'Lisa' and 'home,' you must be the dumbass. Because why not? Why the fuck not? Let me guess a password from two words. Completely logical. I totally get it."

Underneath the word, a sentence began to write itself. _Okay, so obviously you need a new hint. How about green? Emerald green, specifically._

"I don't know," Kiara groaned, "Slytherin? Black markets?"

 _No, but good guess. What do you call a part of a grocery store with shelves?_

Kiara blinked, staring at the sentence in complete and utter confusion. "…What?" Instead of another sentence, the question was underlined with a two millimeter thick black line. "I'm not an expert on grocery stores! I don't know!"

 _Jesus, you're so useless. I'd scoff, if I actually could. So, the answer rhymes with the beginning part of the word island._

"If I'm useless, don't give me passwords to crack," Kiara retorted. "And is the answer aisle?"

 _Ooh, good job. Now what's another way to spell the same thing?_

Kiara paused, thinking. "Gangway?"

 _What the hell. That was so out of context. Oh, my wording was iffy. What sounds the same as aisle, but is spelt differently?_

"Oh, you mean isle?"

Wow, you're on a roll! That was sarcasm. But you're right. Now, connect the dots.

"Lisa, home, isle," Kiara muttered.

You forgot one.

"And emerald green? Lisa, home, isle, emerald, green… Lisa, home, isle, emerald, green… _emerald green isle…_ Oh! Ireland. That's where you live, right?" All of the words on the page disappeared, replaced with long lists of names underneath underlined titles. The first few pages were filled with names Kiara recognized as mostly Slytherins, with a few others. They were labeled things like _Pens, Pencils,_ and _Spidget Finners_. The people that bought Elizabeth's illegally imported muggle objects, Kiara assumed. The rest of the pages were filled with lengthy notes about each of the students and the teachers, with marks in red littered around the margins. On the very last page was completely smudged, with water and ink spills over it. Kiara figured Elizabeth was trying to crack down the mystery killer, but was slightly concerned at how she had managed to get detailed physically features about the people.

 _One more_ , Kiara thought as she picked up the weathered, blue, leather bound journal. She flicked through the pages and wasn't surprised when she saw that every page was blank. _And of course there's another password._ Kiara opened to the front page and waited for the familiar spidery handwriting filled the page. _Haven't you people ever heard of closing the goddamn book?_ Kiara shut the book rather harshly, even though she was trying her best not to show her anger. She opened it again, only to find that her idea hadn't worked. Instead, the sentence had been replaced with, _C'mon, I figured you'd get that one. At some point or another, my mind is going to burst trying to give you all of these hints._

"Is that _meant_ to be a hint?" Kiara demanded, giving her best stink eye to the book. "Because if it is, I don't get it."

 _Okay, so my super subtle hints aren't working, so I have to break it down for you. I'm sighing, just so you know. Now, who's the ice tiger of Russia?_

"Ice… tiger?" Kiara thought back to everything Elizabeth had ever told her. The answer was right at the tip of her tongue, and it bothered her that she didn't remember it. " _Ice tiger… Ice tiger…_ Oh, right. Is it that guy from that anime you watched? The gay skating one. What's his face. Yuri Plisetsky?"

 _Good_. _Now, focus on that first name and say it in a REALLY American accent. Like, SUPER American_. Kiara furrowed her eyebrows at the words, concentrating. However, it was impossible for her mind to pronounce it any other way besides "yoo-ree." It was probably the first time in years where Kiara had actually wished she couldn't speak Russian.

"I can't," Kiara admitted, defeated.

 _Ugh, you're awful at this. Okay, so assuming you ARE Kiara, this is going to be the last hint. Who's got a vocal range bigger than my future?_

"That dude that sings in Panic! At the Disco," Kiara said instantly, recalling a past conversation with Elizabeth. "Brandon? No, Brendon. Brendon… Urie? Is that it? And I don't think he had a very big vocal range, because you're future was literally just three more weeks."

 _Finally. Most of my hints were P!atD references. Now, buckled your seatbelts, because we're going on a helluva ride._ The last thing Kiara remembered was her saying, "What?" aloud in confusion before the world around her went dark.

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 ***startled gasps***

 **Readers: _LuNa! hAvE yOu ReSoRtEd To WrItInG fIlLeRs?!_**

 **Yeah, sorry. ^^; Also, the two of us basically gave up on writing the last chapter. At some point, we'll get back to it, but for now, we're just relying on the pre-written chapters to keep us kinda sorta relevant.**

 **By the way, happy December! I don't celebrate Christmas, but I still feel festive enough to have Michael Buble on loop. Seeing other people having fun, wearing big sweaters, giving each other presents, and just enjoying the winter makes me warm and fuzzy inside. Growing up in the US really did something to a non-secular Asian like me. Every time I look out the window, I can see my neighbours' already decorated houses. It's ridiculous. My birthday is this month, though (28th), so I'm pretty excited for that, even though my family never does anything that big.**

 **My favourite holiday songs are "Home for the Holidays," "Baby, It's Cold Outside," "Underneath the Tree," and "Seasons of Love." I've got a spotify Christmas playlist (/user/rg2bd5ieyfxatff163oqv9ygs/playlist/7CTWNVHTK4Yrg8mQQ4BzTV) if you want to know what I'm listening to the rest of the month.**

 **-Luna**

 **.**

 **Yay! Elizabeth died! (I know that happened last chapter, but I didn't do a note for that so it's going here) So fun, I know. Uhhh sorry the last chapter was was late, I don't know roman numerals but guess who decided to use them anyway? That's right, it was Luna! (and then she got mad at me for being stupid, but that isn't my fault) Be prepared for Kiara being even more dense, as well as an even more impulsive piece of shit.**

 **-Lupus**


	11. Chapter XI

When Kiara opened her eyes again, she found that she was in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. _What the hell?_ she thought, staring at her surroundings in confusion. She tried to move around, but an invisible barrier held her down, only allowing her to move her head. Then, the compartment door opened, and Rose and Elizabeth walked in, both with cats in their arms.

Kiara nearly jumped out of her clothes when a loud, familiar American and slightly Irish voice started narrating the scene. What surprised her even more was that it wasn't coming from the outside, but rather from Kiara's head. " _Journal_ ," Elizabeth said in her usual tone of voice, " _Hey, it's me. Elizabeth. I sound stupid already. But I managed to buy you at a flea market and work some magic on you so that you can replay everything I write as a memory. Rose gave me the idea to work with pensieve, and I just tweaked her idea a bit so it would create this. Now, yeah, I know this is totally illegal, but I honestly don't give a fuck anymore. I also managed to store some old memories here, all the way from when I still went to Ilvermorny. Cool, eh? Anyway, I met these two girls on the train ride. Their names are Kiara and Naomi._ "

Kiara watched in awe as the train scene replayed itself around her, with Elizabeth narrating in the background. All of them introduced themselves, played the wizard equivalent of Bean Boozled, and fought off Nadia, all while Elizabeth's awful jokes and sarcastic jabs were in the background. _Oh my god_ , Kiara thought, _If I need to hear one more of these jokes I'm going to kill a man._ She watched some more, until she caught her name, " _And that Kiara girl, I know she's going to be a Slytherin. Just like how I know Rose is going to be a Hufflepuff. It's like a sixth sense. Maybe Kiara could help me work with more illegal shit."_ Kiara smiled at that statement, seeing as, in reality, that had come true. _"Nothing much happened today. I offered this Gryffindor girl a chance to use the RoR for wifi and stuff. That's about it. Signing off, Liz._ "

The next day that played appeared to be later in the year, seeing as the trees had begun to wilt slightly. Through the windows, Kiara could see the sun begin to sink beneath the horizon. When she looked around, Kiara saw Elizabeth glancing around as she walked hurriedly through the halls. Her figure was ghostly, so faint that it looked as if she weren't there in the first place. Kiara was dragged along with her as she winded around through corridors Kiara didn't even realised existed. Elizabeth finally confronted a painting of a witch with shackles around her wrists, sitting in a cell. Perhaps if Kiara had paid more attention in Professor Binns' class, she would've known what the painting was depicting, but Kiara was completely clueless. Elizabeth tapped the painting in an intricate pattern before swinging it open and climbing through.

 _"Journal; Today was the night I met up with Ethan. He managed to get his hands on everything I need for the deals, and we decided to split the money. It's a good deal. I found an abandoned sitting room with vintage furniture and a lovely fireplace. It's behind a Pendle Hill Witches Trial painting, and you just have to tap out the syllables of the founders in each of the corners. I might use it for something else in the future, but probably not. I like it and I want to be the only one to know about it. That way, I can use it for myself. I tidied it up a bit and I figured it be a good place to use as our meeting area. Smart, yeah?"_

On the other side was a dark room without a single person inside. Elizabeth clapped her hands and every torch in the room suddenly burst into flames, lighting up the entire room. The elegant couches were arranged around a white wood coffee table with intricate gold designs. The fireplace had a roaring flame, comfortably heating the room. Elizabeth sat down at a loveseat, lounging and taking up the entire couch in an arrogant manner. Suddenly, the fire in the fireplace turned green and a boy wearing the typical blue and red Ilvermorny robes stepped out holding a bulky bag. Kiara squinted at him, trying to figure out who he could be. _Oh_! she finally remembered, _That must be Ethan._

"Nice place," the boy, Ethan, commented.

"Obviously," Elizabeth scoffed. "Now, you got the stuff?"

"Yeah." He dumped all of the contents of the bag onto the coffee table; boxes, more bags, and a few printed out pictures. Some of the pictures had blocky white text and others had captions above them

"Wow," Elizabeth marveled, picking up one of the pictures. "The memes thing was a joke. But these memes are really dank."

"No shit," he said, rolling his eyes. "I got them from r/dankmemes." Kiara watched as the two exchanged light hearted banter, nudging each other and making sarcastic jabs.

 _"He's still trying to convert me from tumblr to reddit. It isn't working. Why does everyone try doing that? I know personally that Tumblr is a piece of shit in terms of a website, and that Yahoo was kinda stupid buying her for 1.1 billion dollars, but I can't escape. You can't escape hell. Tumblr is like something that's so disgusting, you have to look at it. Haha, I'm joking. Not really. But tumblr's a cool site. That's about it for today. Signing off, Liz."_

Kiara's vision went dark and it was replaced with the same exact room, only Elizabeth and Ethan were wearing sweaters; Ethan's reading "Brace Yourselves: Christmas is Coming" with a badly photoshopped grinch, and Elizabeth's reading "Fleece Navidad" with a sheep covered in fairy lights. On the coffee table was a white cat with a slightly longer lock on the side of his face, a flag of norway ribbon wrapped around his neck. Lukas.

 _Oh my god,_ Kiara thought, _Those sweaters are hideous, the fact that they're for christmas makes it worse._

 _"Journal; Ethan got me a present for my birthday. He's a white cat, and he looks like a Norwegian Forest, too. Just like Ellie. I named him Lukas. Fitting, right? I'm not even joking, he looks exactly like neko Norway." Is everything about Hetalia for her?_ Kiara wondered. _What even_ is _neko?_

"I found him at the base of the Leif Eriksson statue in Boston," Ethan explained as Elizabeth stroked the cat. "Figured you'd might want to take him in."

"I'm surprised you're actually being nice to me," Elizabeth laughed, picking Lukas up gently and placing him in her lap. Kiara was shocked to see that the cat didn't protest, or even _fidget_ , when Elizabeth took him in her hands. In fact, Lukas looked _pleased_ , as if he actually enjoyed the presence of the two siblings.

 _"I brought him to the common room and he took my pen and wrote out messages to me. I swear on my life, Lukas is magic. I made him a mini typewriter so he can talk to me without using up the ink in my pen. He reminds me of Pizzicato, from 'Zita the Spacegirl.' And don't laugh, I read that years ago."_

Kiara watched as the sitting room morphed into the Slytherin common room, late at night. Elizabeth and Lukas sat on the couch with Elizabeth III, the three of them having a pleasant conversation and Lukas translating everything between them. Kiara had a faint recollection of waking up in the middle of the night and trudging the common room, only to hear Elizabeth's laughter and immediately return to her bed.

The scene faded and was replaced with Elizabeth on her bed with a typically tarot reading set up. Her hands were shivering as she arranged cards in front of her and flipped them over. _Divination? God, I can't believe she actually trusts those things._ Kiara scowled to herself. " _Journal_ ," Elizabeth said, her voice obviously quivering, " _I drew a Death and a 10 of Swords today. Both were upside down. Someone's going to die. It could be me or anyone else, but someone is going to die. These cards have never lied to me. I've predicted meeting Kiara and Naomi, Rose failing her classes, the Quidditch tie, and Lukas. As much as I hate to admit it, I predicted Rose's death. And that Huang girl's death. These cards aren't wrong. I have to be on the lookout. I'm going to start carrying the ČZ vz 27 around with me. I can't risk it. They call it paranoia until they die. Signing off, Liz._ "

The next day was in the same exact spot, only Elizabeth was standing in front of the window facing towards the great lake. Her hair was ragged and out of it's usual sleek ponytail, falling across her face, and she clutched her pistol in her hand. It's barrel was pointed at her temple and Elizabeth's arm was visibly shaking. What startled Kiara most was that the voice that narrated hadn't started with "Journal." Instead, it directly addressed herself.

 _"Kiara,"_ the voice said between sharp inhales _, "if you're reading this, I'm gone. I won't be coming back. I drew a Seven of Wands, along with another Ten of Swords and Death today. I'm going to die. I won't let the murderer get me. And I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that the cards are giving me an irrational fear and suicidal thoughts. You're wrong. Those cards are real. Divination is real. I'll fall into the killer's hands if I don't do it myself. And they know what they're doing. They won't leave a single trace behind. If I- If I kill myself, the murder's plans will be ruined. Just the slightest, but still ruined. I'm leaving you with everything I have that you can use to help you. The rest, you'll have to do on your own. Best of luck, Elizabeth."_

Just as Kiara's mind began to fade, she saw Elizabeth squeeze her eyes shut and pull the trigger, the loud _BANG_ ringing throughout the dorm. She caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure recoil in the corner of the room before the scene went blank, and Kiara was back on her bed with the trunk opened in front of her and the notebook in her lap. Kiara stared at the notebook, hands shaking slightly. She had known Elizabeth had died but this made it all the more real.

Suddenly, she stood up, angrily throwing the notebook across the room, red splaying her vision. Kiara didn't know if she was mad at herself, or Elizabeth, or the killer but it made her hands itch with the urge to punch something. She stayed like that for a while, clutching her sleeves in an attempt to control her burning hands, and just sitting there seething at the world.

Finally, Kiara picked herself up and walked across the room to retrieve the journal. She opened it back up and watched the scenes over again until she finally got to the suicide. Paying close attention, Kiara waited until she saw the figure again, and mumbled "Does this thing pause?" As soon as the word "pause" left her lips, the scene came to a standstill.

Elizabeth's voice rang out in her head, but instead of narrating the scene, she said, " _You can move, but you can't touch anything. Say play to continue, and shout out a date to skip through passages._ " Hesitantly, Kiara tried walking towards the figure, her body passing through the solid objects as if she was a ghost. She couldn't make out too many features, but she could see that the figure looked tall enough to be in one of the older students, at least over third year.

"Play," Kiara mumbled, still processing the information she had gotten. She had already come to the conclusion that it must have been the killer. Elizabeth was right. Her suicide was able to mess up the killer's plans, even if just the slightest. As soon as she was back in her dorm, Kiara took out the list of kids staying over break, along with Elizabeth's detailed list of people. There were three that fit the criteria of the killer perfectly (Mary Knight, Chelsea Mason, and Amber McKoy) along with a wild card (Riley Emerson).

Kiara quickly jotted down the list before she got up and left her dorm, exiting the Slytherin commons and venturing out into the halls. She walked through several corridors, watching carefully for any prefects or teachers patrolling the halls, until finally, she reached the tower she was most familiar with. A sing song voice ran out through the opening. "What can you catch but not throw?"

"Can you not be so loud?" Kiara hissed, looking around to make sure there weren't people around.

"What can you catch but not throw?" the door repeated, but quieter.

"A cold," Kiara said, remembering the answer from a riddle book she had read. The door swung open and Kiara entered the Ravenclaw common room.

At first, no one looked at her as she entered, probably assuming that she was a Ravenclaw that had come in late from dinner. Then, someone glanced and narrowed their eyes suspiciously before whispering to the person sitting next to them. Hunching her shoulders awkwardly, Kiara looked around for Naomi, but couldn't find her amongst the crowd of students in the common room.

"You're not a Ravenclaw." Kiara looked up to find a moderately tall girl with dark hair looking at her with an inquisitive and slightly accusing expression

"Good observation," Kiara remarked, "I also have blonde hair."

"Well, then what are you?" she demanded, "And why are you here?"

Kiara was about to tell the girl that anyone with eyes could tell she was a Slytherin but quickly realized she had taken her tie off and traded her school robes for something more casual. "I'm a Slytherin," she explained briefly, "and I'm here to see Naomi O'Hanigan. Do you know where she is?"

"Slytherins aren't very trustworthy, in my opinion," the girl said, narrowing her eyes. "One almost killed me before. Why would you want to see Naomi anyway? To murder her or something?"

Kiara sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes and laugh at the girl's choice of words. _Pfft, murder,_ she thought. _How ironic_. "Naomi's my friend. I need to talk to her."

After one last suspicious glance, the girl huffed and said, "Fine. Naomi's in her dorm. I'll show you the way. I'm Siena, in case you wanted to know."

"Elli," she said in way of a response as she followed Siena through the tower. The Ravenclaw lead her to the third year dorm and gestured inside, where Kiara saw Naomi hunched over a stack of papers.

Naomi turned and looked at her friend with a questioning glance. "You aren't supposed to be here," she said, concern lacing her voice, "it's past curfew and this isn't your house."

"Look," Kiara said urgently, glancing around to make sure no one was listening. Thankfully, Siena had left and the rest of the third years were in the common room. "I need your help to find a serial killer."

Naomi stared at her friend. After a long pause, she replied with a confused, "What?"

"There's a serial killer on the loose and I need your help," Kiara rephrased.

After another equally long pause, Naomi broke into a small grin. "That's pretty funny," she said, laughing slightly. "Thanks for that. I was drowning in the stress from all my homework and you lowered it a bit. Now, go back to the dungeons before someone finds you and gives you a detention."

"I'm not joking," Kiara huffed, her patience waning despite the fact that Naomi was her friend. "Rose, Anna, and Elizabeth all died because of the murderer."

Naomi's eyes widened, finally realising that Kiara wasn't joking or pulling her leg. "What?" she repeated, this time more shocked than previously. "There's- they- that can't be possible." However, as Naomi recalled her previous classes, she remembered that Elizabeth hadn't been in any of them since a week after the holidays. "No way…"

"I'm not really sure how to go on with this, and you're the smartest person I know," Kiara continued, "I figured you might know what to do. None of the staff has mentioned anything since all of the deaths look like suicides. Elizabeth left a bunch of things for me that she thinks will help, but I don't know how to use half of them. Oh, and I have this." Kiara took out the slip of parchment she wrote all of the suspects names on before Naomi could even think about commenting. "Do you know any of them?"

The third year blinked for a second, still trying to process her words, before craning her head to look at the parchment. "Mary is an older Ravenclaw," Naomi said as she inspected the list. "She's a prefect and is the only one of them that works directly with the staff other than the Heads." Kiara nodded, jotting down the information. "I'm not sure what house Cynthia is in. Probably Hufflepuff. She's average in all of her classes. Not bad, but not excellent either. She's really good at transfiguration, though. Amber is a Slytherin, I think. I heard from other students that she's a huge prankster and knows all of the secret entrances and areas. Riley's a Gryffindor. He's the best student in his year and I think he takes every single elective."

"Thanks," Kiara said, smiling slightly. "That's really helpful. If I need to talk to you again, I'll go up to you during the meals."

"That would be better," Naomi agreed. "You should leave now, before it's too late." Kiara nodded, shoving the paper into her pocket before quickly exiting the tower and making her way through the halls as quietly as possible. She turned onto the second hall away from the dungeons and breathed out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Kiara collided with something else and she fell back, hitting the stone cold floor. "Ow…" she muttered, rubbing her back and looking up to see what she had collided with. What Kiara saw made her freeze and caused all of the blood in her face to drain. Professor Brown, the divination teacher and Kiara's least favourite staff member, stared down at her in surprise and slight anger. However, it faded into a smug smile as the professor crossed her arms. _Of course it had to be her,_ Kiara thought bitterly, _because the world doesn't hate me enough, huh? Maybe this is Elizabeth getting her revenge from that one time I called her loud and stupid. I'll make sure to kick her stupid ass in heaven. If she isn't in hell, that is._

"And what do we have here?" Professor Brown said, feigning shock. "Perhaps if you would start counting your unlucky days, Miss Blackwell, or simply _follow the rules,_ you could have avoided this. However, I'm afraid I will have to give you a detention, along with a loss of fifty points from your house. Tomorrow afternoon, and make sure you aren't late."

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **Ahhhhh filler chapter again. ^^; sorry don't come for me**

 **Anyway, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Lupus' birthday was a few days ago and mine's coming up. (Don't you dare gasp, I'm still older than her by a year.) It's snowing already over here and it's so pretty I wanna cry. (Not really but it's super pretty.)**

 **Also, I spent $135 dollars on chocolates and an extra $10 on bags and tissue paper for my friends. I go to lots of lengths for friendship.**

...

 **And yes, Lupus is getting one too.**

 **Don't you be lookin' at me like that.**

 **-Luna**

 **.**

 **CHOCOLATE! One of the only perks of knowing Luna, if you ask me. (Plus she said she'd get me a Hanukkah, and if she actually does it I'm gonna start crying.) And yeah, my birthday was this week, so that was nice. I got a new pair of roller-blades and tons of cash. (I want to buy myself a laptop when I get enough money.) Luna thinks she's really special being older than me by that much, but all my friends are at least a year older than me so...**

 **Yeah, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! We're getting sort of close to the finish. If we ever do finish that is. Luna and I are sort of stuck on the next chapter. Well, I wrote an amazing paragraph about beating the killer with a magical rainbow steak, but apparently that wasn't good. Whatever, Luna's loss.**

 **Book recombination of the week: The Magnus Chase Series**

 **Happy Holidays!**

 **Lupus**


	12. Chapter XII

Kiara wasn't sure if the day could get any worse. When she had woken up that Saturday, her entire house was in an uproar at the huge amount of points lost right before their next game. That on its own was enough to put Kiara in a bitter mood, but the realisation that she had to serve detention on a weekend was an all time low. And the absolute cherry on top was when Professor Brown decided to make her do more work even after Kiara had dusted, washed, waxed, and polished everything in the Divination classroom.

"Elizabeth was a much better student," the professor commented offhandedly as she led Kiara to an unused classroom storage area near the dungeons. Kiara resisted the urge to roll her eyes and reply with a sassy retort. _"Elizabeth was a much better student"_ _my ass._ "She would come in during her extra time to talk to me. She even showed me some traditional native American cartomancy and Eastern divining techniques. It's a shame you couldn't be like that. Now, would you mind cleaning up this room?"

"No, I wouldn't mind," Kiara said through gritted teeth, hating the fact that Professor Brown spoke like she actually had a choice.

"Good," Professor Brown said, smiling sweetly. "I'll come back to check on you in an hour." Kiara nodded glumly as the professor handed her some basic muggle cleaning supplies. "No magic," she said, taking Kiara's wand and swiftly exiting the room.

After ten minutes, Kiara had already had enough. She was exhausted from cleaning the classroom and having to do it again was just plain torture. She sneezed, grabbing a tissues from a portable pack in her robes and rubbed her nose before throwing it into the bin. _Stupid dust_ , she thought angrily, _stupid broom, stupid duster, stupid storage room, stupid divination teacher. Everything is stupid._ At some point, Kiara ended up kicking the wall in frustration and would've left a decent sized dent, had it been made of drywall.

Kiara yawned and continued to sweep the dirt and debris from the floor, particularly in the corners, where a huge amount had built up. _If only I knew wandless magic. Stupid Elizabeth for not teaching me how to do wandless magic._ Kiara continued to work, ignoring the quiet nagging voice that had somehow appeared in the back of her head. _Kiara… Kiara… Kiara…_ the voice repeated.

 _Shut up._

 _Kiara… Kiara… Kiara…_

 _Shut the hell up._

 _Kiara… Kiara… Ki-_

" _What_?!" Kiara roared aloud before realising she had been arguing with herself the entire time. She sighed, going back to cleaning the room and lapsing in the quiet silence.

"KIARA!"

"Wha- _Rose_?!" Kiara jumped slightly, shock clearly written on her face as she stared into the eyes of her dead friend's pale silhouette.

"Oh, thank god," Rose said, breathing out a sigh of relief. "I don't have much time left here and I thought I'd never get your attention."

"Are you…" Kiara trailed off, "are you a ghost?"

"Just for a small amount of time," Rose replied. "I've been able to visit dreams to warn people if something is going to happen to them when they wake up. But only when they sleep." Kiara's eyes widened when she remembered the dream she had the night Elizabeth had committed suicide. _Rose… had tried to warn me?_

"My connection here isn't that strong," Rose continued, her speed significantly faster as she glanced around nervously. "It was much better before I died. But there's something about this room that I can sense. An ancient curse of some kind. Or a beast. Something is haunting here and I think it's linked to the murders. I don't know and I can't really be sure."

"In this room?" Kiara asked.

"Yeah," Rose nodded. "I can't pinpoint the exact magic in this room, but I can feel some of the aftereffects. It happened a while ago, at least."

Kiara let out a string of curses, getting angry yet again at Elizabeth's death. "Bloody hell," she growled, "Elizabeth knew how to do that too. She could _feel_ the bloody magic in the air, for God's sake. She can do everything. But _noooo_ ," Kiara fumed, gripping the broom so tightly that it started to splinter, "Instead of actually giving me something _useful_ , she had to leave me a damn book about divination! I hate her."

"Are you sure she didn't give you anything else?" Rose asked. Kiara shook her head angrily.

"Unless it's in her notebook, the stupid American didn't give me another knuckles turned white. However, as her words replayed in her head, she began to loosen her grip on the broom. "American… Maybe they teach this kind of stuff at Ilvermorny instead of the garbage we learn here."

"I mean, that makes sense," Rose agreed. "Elizabeth told me it was illegal in the United States for muggles and wizards to become friends or marry, so it would make sense to learn about how you can hide yourself from the muggle world." Suddenly, Rose gasped and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "I'm losing my connection!" she exclaimed, looking at Kiara frantically. "There's something in this room," Rose said, her ghost and voice starting to fade, "trust me! Just keep looking!"

"Rose, wait!" Kiara shouted, but her friend vanished into the air as if she had never been there in the first place. Almost immediately after, Rose's presence was replaced with Professor Brown and her stupidly smug smile.

"I see you have done a rather large amount of work since I was last here, Miss Blackwell," Professor Brown quipped, "but you still have a couple hours left. Keep up the work!" Kiara rolled her eyes when the professor left before proceeding to clean up the empty room.

In the Ravenclaw tower, Christie sat, curled up in her bed, reading a novel her parents had sent her a few days ago. She had decided not to attend the quidditch match, since she wasn't a huge fan of sports or large crowds. Instead, Christie took the time to invest herself into the lives of fictional characters. As she flipped through the book, she began to feel the exhaustion from last night's homework dawn on her. Christie blinked rapidly as a futile attempt to keep herself awake. _Just a few more pages_ , she thought, _only one hundred until the story's over_. After another fifty, she gave up on fighting the sleepiness and bookmarked the page, closing it and leaving it on her bedside table. Christie yawned before draping herself underneath the blue and bronze comforters, drifting off to sleep.

When Christie opened her eyes again, she found herself in front of the gates of the Castell Caerdydd, the prime monument in her home city. Instead of crawling with tourists, like it usually was, the sky was dark and murky, with a light drizzle sprinkling the ground. Christie walked through the paths, past the interpretation centre, and along the main road. The rainy weather definitely gave the area a more haunted feeling, bringing out the Cardiff Castle's age. _Is this what a lucid dream is?_ she wondered, _Professor Brown said I could control them… Stop raining, dream._

The drizzles began to slow down before coming to an abrupt halt, the puddles on the floor drying as if they had never been there. The skies cleared and Christie was greeted with the rare view of Cardiff without the grey clouds. _Woah. That's so cool. Can you make a rainbow?_ Christie stared up at the sky, watching as something in the air shimmered, before forming into an arc of multicoloured beauty. She could feel a smile stretch across her face as she admired the brilliant hues of light above the ancient castle. _Sunset! With lots of different colours!_

The sky began to shift in colour, the brilliant bright blue turning into a soft shade of salmon, with purple and pink hued clouds, the sun a bright yellow-orange. "Woah," Christie breathed, admiring the sky and the rainbow that arched over the ancient landscape. _Northern lights! And stars!_ She sat down on the grass and looked up as streaks of green and blue beauty flared across the sky against the night sky, which swam with the colours of the stars and the milky way.

Suddenly, strange noises pulled Christie out of her mystified trance. She jumped and whipped her head around when she heard fuzzy speech, like really staticky radios. Christie saw a hazy figure a few metres away from her gesturing frantically and asked, "What?" The figure repeated itself in the same inaudible sounds, this time more forcefully. "Can you be more clear?" Christie asked. The figure suddenly solidified into the shape of a girl her own age. When she walked closer, she saw that the girl was in fact one of her own classmates, Rose Lynn, who had mysteriously disappeared from her classes without any of the teachers acknowledging it.

"You have to wake up!" Rose blurted in a rush, "Your friend, Kaylee, is going to get killed! You have to stop it!"

Christie blinked rapidly, looking at her in confusion. "Sorry, what? I don't understand what you mean…?"

"Kaylee is going to be murdered!" Rose said, her voice distressed. "You need to wake up and stop it!"

"Wait, what?!" Christie repeated, this time more shocked than confused. "That can't be true! She's at the game with her brother!"

"She went back to the castle since she got bored of it," Rose explained hurriedly, "and she's in the common room right now. You need to wake up!"

"How do I wake up?" Christie asked, pulling her hair in worry. "Uh- _Portal_! Can you make a portal to the real world?" The scenery began to swirl, the colours mixing and brightening, until a single white oval formed in front of her. Before she had a chance to think twice, Christie jumped through and felt herself free fall through a white abyss. She felt as if her eyes were trying to escape their sockets and her hands were trying to pull themselves off. She used to want to go skydiving, but if this was the same experience, she changed her mind. The white grew stronger, causing pain to sear into Christie's head, as if someone had stabbed the area behind her eyes with a carving fork.

Christie jolted awake, her heart racing, her breath ragged, and her forehead beaded with sweat. She was back in her bed in the dormitory, the familiar furnishings surrounding her. _Just a dream_ , Christie thought, squeezing her eyes shut in a vain attempt to calm herself down from the panic that had been there only seconds ago. _Just a dream._ _That wasn't real. I- I just- I must have lost control of the dream and Rose slipped in somehow. Like normal dream! That's it. It was just a-_

A piercing scream rang throughout the tower, so terrifying that it surely would have awoken the dead. Christie's eyes widened as she flung herself out of bed, blindly racing down the stairs and tripping on her own feet, everything in front of her blurring together without the help of her glasses. _Oh my god, it's real! Rose was right! Oh, no no no. This can't be happening, no, it's not possible._ Christie burst into the common room, out of breath, mind spinning as she whipped her head around in search of her friend. When she looked up, her entire body froze on the spot.

There Kaylee was, her eyes bugged and her hands clawing at the noose around her neck as she dangled from the ceiling. Her breathing was choked up and her movements were erratic as she kicked and thrashed helplessly. As Christie stood there helplessly, paralyzed in shock and mortification, Kaylee eventually slowed down and stopped all together, her body hanging limp. Christie didn't register the mass of Ravenclaws that entered the common room, looking up and falling into an equal state of shock as herself. She stumbled backwards, her eyes fluttering, before she felt her knees buckle as she fell, her turning going black.

Among the chaos was Naomi, who shoved her way through the students, trying to get a better look. _A suicide_ , she thought, _like Kiara had said. This must be one of them. It was perfectly timed, too. That first year though, Christie, could be helpful. She's obviously witnessed something, based on the fact that she fainted._ Naomi did her best to inspect the scene, ignoring the teacher's reassurance that it was a suicide, before she dashed to her dormitory and hastily wrote out a note. Naomi took out a piece of paper and scribbled down-

 _Kiara-_

 _There was another death. I think it's linked to the one's you've been talking about. Her name's Kaylee Meyers. She's a first year Ravenclaw._

 _-Naomi_

She looked around and spotted Bobette at the base of the bedside cabinet, seated as she pecked the ground. "Volantis," Naomi said, pointing her wand at her pet chicken. Bobette blinked rapidly, clucking and flapping her wings. Much to the chicken's surprise, she began to lift off the ground with every buffet. "Hey, Bobette," Naomi said, glancing around to make sure she was completely alone, "can you give this to Kiara? Find some way to get into the dungeons." Bobette clucked and took the letter before she proceeded to flap her way out the window.

The next day, Kiara made her way through the halls, nervously rubbing her hands together and dreading the thought of having to meet someone new. _I need the information,_ Kiara told herself, _and she's the only witness we have so far. She's gotta have something I can use._ When she arrived in front of the hospital wing, she saw someone come out and nod his head curtly in acknowledgement towards her before leaving. Kiara took in a deep breath and steadied herself before pushing open the door and stepping in.

In the very last bed was Christie Lovell, nestled into a layer of blankets with another blanket draped across her shoulder. She was staring out the window, her face empty, devoid of emotion, and her hands clutching a mug of hot chocolate. Upon closer inspection, Kiara noticed that the girl was shaking ever so slightly, her bottom lip trembling. She slowly walked up to the bed, doing her best not to disturb the eerie silence of the room. When Kiara sat down at the chair next to the bed, Christie barely even batted an eyelash in her direction. She just continued to sit there, looking blankly into nothing, her hands still wrapped around the cup. Kiara coughed slightly, looking everywhere other than directly at Christie, shifting her weight uncomfortably. _Why did I think this was a good idea?_ she wondered.

"Um, hi," Kiara murmured, staring at the stack of books, parchment, and homework piled on the small table next to her. "Christie, right? I'm Kiara. Kiara Blackwell. I just wanted to talk about, well, you know, Kaylee, uh, Kaylee dying." Kiara tripped over her words, her brain unable to come up with a sympathetic way to say them.

Christie turned slightly to face Kiara, her eyes swimming with unreadable emotion. "Why?" she whispered, her voice quivering.

"Um…" Kiara scrambled to find some way to sugar coat her words, but came up with nothing. "There's been a lot of supposed suicides recently and I'm investigating them with a couple of friends. We think that they're serial murders, but we aren't to sure. I heard you were a witness, so I thought maybe you could help provide some insight. That is, if you're okay with it."

"They won't let me go back."

Kiara blinked, taken aback at the vague and out of context statement. "What?"

"They won't let me go back," Christie repeated, her voice hushed. "To the dormitory. They said I'm in shock. That I was seeing things. That I was trying to create illusions to make myself feel better. That's why they're keeping me here." Christie shook her head, gripping the mug tighter and looking down. "I didn't make it up," she whispered, "I saw it with my own eyes. Kaylee didn't kill herself. I saw her trying to get the noose off of her neck. Someone did it to her." On the last sentence, her voice hitched slightly.

Kiara pursed her lips, trying to think of something nice to reply with. _What would Elizabeth say?_ Kiara wondered. _No, Elizabeth was a heartless piece of shit. Rose? What would Rose say? Uhh…_ Every response she conjured sounded either sarcastic, snarky, arrogant, or some kind of insult. "What did the teachers think?" Kiara tried, but winced when she realised that probably wasn't something Christie wanted to talk about.

Nonetheless, the girl continued. "They thought that during the process, Kaylee regretted doing it and tried to stop herself. That's not true." Though Christie's voice was still quiet, it was more forceful than before. "Kaylee always hated when people committed suicide. She said it was stupid and that people shouldn't take their life like that."

"Can you tell me a little bit about Kaylee?" Kiara asked, silently praising herself for managing to say something half-casual. _Yes, that's good. That isn't too harsh._

"She is- was such a nice person," Christie murmured, rubbing the handle of the cup. "Even though she didn't like the Slytherins that much, she hated when the Gryffindors bullied them. She was really confident in herself, too. She had so many opinions on things and always challenged people when they thought otherwise. She was a good person to talk to. Sometimes, she'd just say what was on her mind for hours and I would just listen. She was smart, and always got the riddles first try, even if sometimes her answers weren't technically right. And she wrote good stories."

Kiara nodded as Christie continued to describe every little detail of her late friend, until at some point, the girl nearly broke down. "Thanks," Kiara said, getting up to leave and feeling as she overstayed her welcome, "for, um, talking to me."

Right as she was about to leave, Christie tugged on her sleeve slightly. Kiara turned around and looked at the girl inquisitively. "Can I… help too?" she asked.

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **I'm sorry, I actually can't write emotions. And Lupus is a heartless bitch that only feel anger. Anyway! It's already ~snowed~ a couple of times here. No, I did not cry.**

 **No, I didn't. Okay? Don't look at me like that.**

 **I can't really think of what to say, so I'll move on. EDEN came out with a new single called "Crash"! It's really good! Check it out. I also really like the "Be More Chill" soundtrack. "Michael in the Bathroom" is by far my favourite.**

 **Reviews are much appreciated~!**

 **-Luna**

 **(P.S. Also, I know a whole bunch of the names were screwed up, 'cause we had old names for the characters and I [yeah, I'm taking the hit] forgot to replace them. They should be all fixed by now, and that might solve some confusion.)**

 **.**

 **It snowed twice where we live and I dint get to go skiing once. This is an injustice. Also, I have a violin recital tomorrow, so that'll be nice**

 **So you know, if you never here from me again, I'm dead from my terrible stage fright.**

 **Also, I'd like to say that no, I'm not heartless. I just...don't know how to deal with sadness. Anger is easier to figure out.**

 **Uh, that sounded deeper then it was supposed to. Look at how old and wise I am! You should all take lessons from me.**

 **See yah!**

 **Lupus**


	13. Chapter XIII

"What do you guys think links all of the murders?" Kiara asked, sitting on the desk in the storage room she had been forced to clean the other day. Naomi, Helena, and Christie were in similar positions, seated around a central table with papers full of all of the clues Kiara had attempted to piece together.

"Well, there's one from each of the houses," Helena pointed out, "and they all accurately represent them, too. Almost like they were stereotypes. So, maybe the killer had something against the founders?"

"But that doesn't make much sense," Christie argued, "If it's a student, why would they have some sort of grudge against these deceased, ancient people? It doesn't line up."

"It wasn't the student, though," Kiara cut in, "According to Rose, someone or something is possessing them. So maybe the possess...or? Yeah, possessor. Maybe the possessor had some sort of thing against the founder and decided to take it out on the students."

"Wait," Naomi said, holding up a hand, "Did Rose say what the possessor actually was? If we know that, we could probably draw parameters that the host falls under."

"She didn't give anything specific," Kiara replied, "She just said she felt a trace of the magic lingering in this room."

"If it's a beast, than that limits us to the ones capable of possession," Helena said, "Specifically, ones that won't cause any effects on the host and is smart enough to disguise murders in a way that won't make it look suspicious. It could be a specter. But with four murders and maybe even more pending, it should have left ectoplasm around. So, probably not. There's a slim chance it could be Croatoan Virus, but I don't think so. It isn't a demon, since they _never_ leave witnesses. Hey, Kiara?"

"Yeah?"

"Have any of the animals in your common room gone crazy? Like, really wild? Does that make sense?"

Kiara paused for a moment to think. _Lukas is just like he always is. And not really any of the owls, either. Or Hermes._ "Uh, no, not really."

"So, it's not a skinwalker. It's not a kanaima, since they force the host to live in the forest, and Hagrid would have noticed." Helena ran down her mental list of creatures capable of possession. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers and smiled. "It could be a djinn! They are definitely intelligent enough to disguise the murders and it's virtually impossible to tell them apart from normal humans. They have to be exorcised out of the body, though, and I have no clue how to do that. All the books on that are in the forbidden section, and we aren't allowed to go there. And if there is another way to kill it, I don't know what it is."

"We could, you know," Kiara said coyly, "break the rules."

"How?" Christie asked. "None of us could go there without getting caught and none of us are close enough to the teachers to the point where they would give us a pass."

"Damn," Kiara muttered. "Ugh, I bet _Elizabeth_ knew how to do it. Okay, at least we know what we're dealing with. That's better than nothing. Next thing." Kiara grabbed the trunk next to her and placed it on the table, unlatching it and swinging it open. "Elizabeth left me all of this stuff and I'm not sure what some of the things do."

Naomi reached over and picked out the parchment. "What is this?" she asked, opening them up and staring at the blank surface.

"Elizabeth gave us little communication slips," Kiara explained, taking her own out. "That one's the master copy. It's password protected, though. I spent a good fifteen minutes guessing and I gave up."

Naomi watched as words scrawled across the paper. _Miss Collingwood would like to bid Miss O'Hanigan a good day. She hopes Miss O'Hanigan will manage to guess the password, unlike her friend._ Naomi stared at the paper in slight confusion.

"Um, are there any hints?"

 _Miss Collingwood recently became the leader of a group of people breaking the law, and would like to express her joy about it in her own unique way._ Naomi stared at the paper blankly.

"Yeah, that's what she told me too," Kiara said. "I have no idea what she's trying to say." As Naomi tried to guess the password, Christie reached over and picked up the tarot pack. She examined the deck and admired the skillfully drawn, hand made cards and meticulously written words. Christie shuffled the deck and laid out three cards in front of her like Professor Brown had instructed, before flipping them over and examining them. She had drawn the Fool, the High Priestess, and the Emperor. Suddenly, an elegant print started to rise out of the cards and hovered in front of her, emitting a soft blue glow. The text read-

With both the High Priestess and the Fool drawn, it won't work that well in terms of your emotional fulfilment, Christie. You'll be asking yourself thousands of questions about your relationship with the people you know and you won't be able to come up with a solid answer. You'll be in a darker mood, your heart heavy. You'll have a gloomy day if you continue to get yourself torn over nothing. You'll run into roadblocks as you work, which will frustrate you to no end. But it's pointless to get irritated; you should use this chance to size up the ins and outs of everything you're trying to do. That's what the High Priestess and the Emperor want you to understand: obstacles and delays create patience, which will lead to reflection.

"You really believe in that garbage?" Kiara scoffed, watching as Christie stared at the cards in wonder. "God, it's so pointless."

"I mean, it seems really accurate," Christie replied, shrugging.

"Yeah, that's how they trick people." Kiara told her, "Mostly it's just pretending that they know what they're talking about in a way that makes even you think it's true. I would have thrown them away a long time ago, but Lukas would kill me."

"But I feel like they do know what they're talking about," Christie argued, "I have been wondering about stuff like my connection with Rona- with my brother, and with my family. I'm still really sad about… you know, the incident. The roadblocks haven't happened yet, but I'm assuming that's supposed to be finding out what the stuff in the trunk is for. And besides, it really doesn't hurt anyone to do something like this each morning. It's kinda fun."

"If you like it, you like it," Kiara shrugged, "I'm not a big fan myself though. Hey Naomi, how's the password going?"

"I've tried everything and it's not working," Naomi groaned. "Elizabeth even gave up on trying to give me hints."

"That happened to me too," Kiara chuckled, "don't worry. We're both bad at it."

"It can't be that hard, right?" Helena asked, looking over Naomi's shoulder. "What was the original hint?"

 _Miss Collingwood hopes Miss Shankar will get the answer right. And the original hint was, "Miss Collingwood recently became the leader of a group of people breaking the law, and would like to express her joy about it in her own unique way."_

"A group of people breaking the law?" Helena echoed.

"A gang," Kiara answered.

"Express joy in her own way…" she murmured. "So, maybe something only Elizabeth says? What's something only she says? Or that she says a lot?"

"Uhh, she was always saying how much she hates me…" Kiara mused, "She also liked insulting everyone she knew. That's all I can really remember. I don't know, try 'I hate Kiara' or something."

"I hate Kiara," Helena repeated. However, instead of revealing something, the script vanished, replaced with a crude smiley face. "So, that didn't work?"

"She says 'yeah', a lot," Naomi answered. "And 'hella.' I think she said 'coolio' this one time and burst out into a rap for some reason."

"I'm the leader of a gang," Helena said, "and that's… H-E-double hockey sticks-A coolio." The last part, she had barely managed to choke out.

"Oh my god," Kiara huffed, "Let me try. I'm the leader of a gang and that's hella coolio."

 _Miss Collingwood would like to tell Miss Blackwell that she is REALLY close, but she needs to replace "leader of gang" with something shorter._

"Ugh, no." Kiara shook her head. "Christie, you try!"

"What's a word that means the leader of a gang?" Christie asked. "Ringleader? Captain? Capo? Okay, maybe that's it. I'm the capo and that's…" She hesitated before continuing, "That's hella coolio."

The words vanished and were replaced with _I'm not from Brooklyn, lmao. But close enough._ The parchment expanded into a large sheet of paper with multiple buttons, each with labels.

" _Change to normal format_ ," Helena read, " _Make new paper. Schedule new meeting. Add member. Change font colour. Change font size. Change font to Comic Sans. Self destruct. Change to Fourth of July mode…?_ "

Kiara clicked on the _add member_ button twice and the paper collapsed back into itself, with new text. _Write the names of the members here! Use pen or else Miss Collingwood will be very disappointed in you._ Kiara pulled out a pencil out of pure spite and wrote down Christie and Naomi's names. The names vanished and two new pieces of paper popped into existence. "These are communication and recording devices," Kiara explained, handing one to the two of them, "They turn cold when I schedule a new meeting. The password to get in is 'This is illegal but I'm doing it anyway.' The password to close it is 'I broke the law and it was fun.' The password to see the past meetings is 'How many times have I broken the law'? Okay, now that's done. There's one more, though." Kiara reached in and took out the printed paper, flattening it out on the table. "This one doesn't give any hints, for some reason. It's just… _blank_."

Naomi looked at the sheet thoughtfully. "No hints? At all?"

"Nope," Kiara said, shaking her head.

"Then maybe…" Naomi paused. "Kiara, why are you drawing on the paper?"

"Wait, me?" Kiara asked before looking down. On the papers were drawings of snowmen with "Kiara" in her own messy handwriting labeling each one. "Oh shit," she murmured, ignoring the nasty look she got from Helena. "I didn't know it sent drawings and labeled them. Damn."

"Okay, so back to the paper," Naomi said, waving her hands to get all of their attention. "Anyone have any thoughts?"

"Maybe it really is just a normal piece of paper," Christie piped, prodding the sheet with her finger.

"It's not," Kiara said, "or else Elizabeth wouldn't leave it."

"But, it _could_ be," Christie muttered. "There's a chance. Maybe Elizabeth was trying to make the trunk look less suspicious."

"We can test it," Helena suggested. "That way we'd really know if it really is or isn't."

Shrugging, Kiara wrote **hi** on the paper. Instead of the usual spidery cursive that had appeared on everything else, a small, slightly messy print scrawled itself onto the paper. _Who is this?_

 **A person. Who are you?** Kiara wrote back, squinting suspiciously at the paper.

 _It's too early in the morning for your bullshit smart assery. Just answer the damn question._

 **I did. I said that I was a person, can't you read? Kiara wrote back, still unwilling to tell the person who she was.**

 _For fuck's sake, just give me a name._

 **Well, you could have said that before. In any case, I'm not giving you a name until I know that you're not a serial killer.**

 _You go to Hogwarts, right?_ Kiara blinked, taken aback at the fact that the person completely swerved to a different topic.

 **Yeah, what's it to you?**

 _Are you Keira Blakewall or something?_

Kiara stared at the paper. _How does this person know who I am?_ Kiara thought. _Well, not really, since they completely butchered the spelling._

 **No, I'm not.** It wasn't a lie, since her name technically wasn't "Keira Blakewall."

 _Then are you Naomi O'Hanigan?_

 **Nope.**

 _Oh, then you must be that Indian girl whose name starts with H._

 **Also a negative.**

 _Okay, so this isn't meant for you. Don't try contacting again._

 _Well that wasn't expected. I wonder how stupid this person is. Well, ok then._ **But if it wasn't meant for me, how did I get in possession of it? You must know how carefully Elizabeth guarded her stuff if you have the second part to whatever this is.**

 _Wow, what a dumbass. Elizabeth didn't guard her stuff. Period._

 **Fuck. You're a little bit smarter than you sound on paper. Not saying much. I'll leave you alone then.**

 _Ohhh, so you ARE Ki-however the fuck you spell your name. Elizabeth said you were annoying and stubborn and a whole load over other bad things._

 **And yet for some odd reason, she still hung around me. The mysteries of life, am I right?**

 _Yea, Elizabeth was kinda pathetic. Now, she told me to ask you what kind of shoe's robbers wear before I gave you more information._

 **...what?**

 _What kind of shoes do robbers wear, dumbass._

Kiara thought about it, before the answer hit her. "Of all things, a pun?" she muttered.

 **I refuse to tell you the answer to that.**

 _Well, I don't give a fuck. Answer or you don't get any information._

 **The answer is sneakers. Happy now?**

 _So. I'm Ethan. Her brother. She said that I could come in handy if any of you guys need to know something you can't get at Hogwarts._

 **My friends and I have figured out that there's a beast possessing a student. This student is now killing people at Hogwarts, and is the reason Elizabeth killed herself. Do you have any ideas how to stop the beast?**

 _Well, if you tell me what the damn beast is, then I can actually do something._

 **A djinn.**

 _Magic will weaken it, but it won't kill. Avocado kedabra will kill the host but not the actual djinn._

 **Avocado kedabra? What are you on?**

 _You just stab the motherfucker with a silver knife coated in lamb blood. If you don't have the blood, I could probably give some to you._

 **What the hell are you doing with a bunch of lamb blood?**

 _We're killing monsters. Duh._

 **That sounds highly unlikely but ok.**

 _Just go to the meetup room tonight and it'll be there. And the host will probably be someone more on the stupider side. Or someone with a really closed mind. I'm leaving._

 **Finally.**

"So what was that?" Helena asked.

"Her brother. He's even more of a douche than Elizabeth was."

"That's not that nice," Helena protested.

"He deserved it. Anyway, he told me that to stop the djinn, we need to stab it with a silver knife coated in lamb blood. I'm going to pick up the materials in the 'meet up room,' wherever that is. I'm pretty sure that this switchblade that Elizabeth gave me is silver, so I just need the blood."

"That sounds gruesome," Christie commented from where she was sitting.

"Yeah," Kiara nodded, "Anyway it's getting late, so I'll send you a message when it's time to have another meeting."

"Ok, bye Kiara!" Christie said, smiling despite the events.

"Bye," Helena said, walking over towards the door. Naomi merely waved before all three of them left the storage room, leaving Kiara to figure out where the meeting place was.

 _Meeting place…_ Kiara paused for a moment to think. _Maybe Elizabeth left a clue to that somewhere? She must've met with her brother before if there's a meeting place. Where would she record something like that? Oh, her journal! I remember that she was meeting with Ethan in that one scene._ Kiara walked over to the trunk and opened it before picking up the journal. _What date was it on?_ she wondered, _I think it was a few months ago, but I'm not sure._

Opening up the journal she tried, "Fourth of November? I dunno." Like she had been before, Kiara was pulled into the journal and her surroundings were replaced with new scenery. The storage room became the Slytherin common room, the lake pitch black and the area dimly lit with a faint greenish glow. On the couch in front of the fireplace was Elizabeth and in the fireplace was the head of Ethan.

 _"Journal; I talked to Ethan and we managed to schedule the next day. He said the day before Thanksgiving, which seems reasonable enough. But he's being a picky asshole and saying that he doesn't want to Floo message again. Something about 'damaging his respiratory system' or some half-assed bullshit like that. And I was thinking that if my market became popular enough, I could sell garbage like ripoff S'well bottles and spidget finners. Other than that, nothing much happened today. Signing off, Elizabeth. Postscript; I got my hands on a bottle of cognac. I'm a lucky gal."_

"I guess I'm going to the twenty-second." Kiara mumbled to herself, before saying "Twenty-second of November!" in a louder tone.

The common room melted into the hallway right outside the dungeon, where the ghostly figure of Elizabeth stepped out of the entrance to the Slytherin dorms. " _Journal; Today was the night I met up with Ethan._ " Kiara watched closely as Elizabeth walked through the hallways, twisting and turning through the corridors. Towards the end of Elizabeth's walk, Kiara noticed that she passed by the hallway that lead towards the Ravenclaw tower. After a countless amount of pausing, replaying, and more pausing, she finally managed to right down the exact directions to the meeting area from the Ravenclaw tower. Now, all that was left was figuring out how to actually get there without getting caught.

Kiara packed everything back into the trunk before leaving the storage room and walking back to the common room, brainstorming on the way. _I don't think I should rely on stealth. Last time I tried that, I was caught by Professor Brown. That leaves invisibility. I don't have a cloak, and I don't know how to do a Disillusionment Charm. I could go to the library and read up on it, but I doubt that I could master it with the time schedule I'm on. I'm not going to try a potion._ Kiara entered the common room and went up to her dormitory, sitting down on the bed and contemplating her options. After a long time of thinking, she finally realised that, even as much as it pained her to admit, Kiara couldn't tackle this problem by herself. She took out her copy of the parchment and muttered the password, before clicking the normal format button and scrawling out a message.

 **Hey, Naomi? I need you to do me a favour.**

On the other side of the school, Naomi shivered slightly as her robe pocket turned to the temperature of the Arctic. She hastily scrambled to get out the piece of parchment and opened it up, staring at the words Kiara had written.

 _Naomi: What?_

 **Kiara: I need you to go to the meeting place. You're much closer and know how to do the invisibility charm, so you probably won't get caught. I'll send you the exact directions.**

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh**

 _ **its almost Christmas, my dudes**_

 **fjdaskhgfnvlsdjfkdjflsadjfklsdjfkajfsdksajfklsdjfkldaj yisssssssssssss.**

 **-Luna**

 **(P.S. I'm going up to my cousins' place, so if the quality of the chapters suddenly drops, its because I didn't edit it and Lupus awful at adding detail.)**

 **.**

 **Hello!**

 **I'm listening to a _great_ song called "I stand alone" It's by Godsmack. You guys should all go listen to it (I listened to it while trying to find a chapter title names. *wink wink*)**

 **So yeah. I stand alone. Godsmack. Go listen.**

 **Bye!**

 **Lupus**


	14. Chapter XIV

Naomi stared at the paper in her hands, looking around at the fork in the halls in front of her. After Kiara had given her the directions, she had copied them onto another sheet of paper and took off after she cast a Disillusionment charm and _Muffliato_ on herself. _Left._ She turned onto the smaller corridor, quickly walking towards the end of it and was greeted by a small opening with statues lining the walls. _Tap the statue of the guy with a beard in the eye._ Naomi walked up to said statute and tentatively prodded its right eye with her finger. The ground started to rumble and the statues collapsed in on themselves, causing a thundering sound to ring out. Before Naomi could fully register her panic, the ground started to lower, as if it was a lift.

When the round finally stabilized, Naomi stood in front of a dreary painting comprised of greys and dark blues, depicting a girl with her hands chained together. Naomi raised her hand and tapped out the syllables of the founders in the corners Kiara had instructed. The Painting swung open, leaving a space just wide enough for her to crawl through. When Naomi stepped inside, every torch on the wall instantly lit up, revealing a cozy sitting room with a fireplace giving the room a toasty feel. Just as she sat down, a boy stepped through the fireplace with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

Before Naomi could make a comment, the boy said, "I was honestly expecting you to be much whiter."

"I'm not Elli," Naomi told him, "She sends her regards, but she said that she didn't feel like coming. Probably best, since we don't want another murder, especially from you. Anyway, I'm Naomi O'Hanigan."

"Ethan Collingwood," the boy said, collapsing onto one of the sofas. "I've brought some stuff you might need." Ethan opened up the the bag and took out a large thermos, handing it to Naomi. "Fresh lamb's blood. The butcher just killed it and I managed to bottle some up for you. Still warm." Naomi resisted the urge to gag and drop the thermos, much to Ethan's amusement. "Just take the knife and dunk it in before you stab whatever with it. Try not to hit a vital point, or the host will die. Heart, arteries, eye, brain, et cetera. And if that doesn't work, then this is your plan B." Ethan took out a few random items and handed placed them on the table between the couches. "Here's a few pounds of purified salt, a litre of holy water, some material to write symbols in, and a textbook guide. Make sure you have someone precise to it. And for your plan _C_ , if you need one, is just to hit it on the head. Enough to get a concussion."

Naomi picked up the items, examining them. There was a ginormous pack of _Cargill Purified Sea Salt_ , a Sprite container with an attachable spray gun nozzle sharpie labeled, "Holey Water - Water With Holes," a frying pan with blue, yellow, and pink stripes, a thin book titled "Exorcism For Dummies," and probably the strangest thing Naomi had ever seen. She squinted at it to make sure she wasn't hallucinating before looking back at Ethan. "Silly string?"

"It's not silly string if it's a very serious matter," he said.

"… Serious string," Naomi corrected.

"You can use it to write out all of the symbols and a pentagram," Ethan explained, "So, do you know exactly who the host is?"

"No, but we have a list."

"The host is usually someone either simple minded or has a huge drive and motivation. Pick one of those and do some kind of harmless magic on them. They should wince. And in the meantime, find out a pattern with the kills. I have to go now, though." Ethan tossed Naomi the bag before tossing some powder into the fireplace, shouting out "Ilvermorny!", and leaving.

The next day, their small group scheduled another meeting with each other. They had decided on the kitchens, since Naomi claimed she felt hungry. "So, how did your meeting with Ethan go?" Kiara asked in between sips of tea. "I'm assuming you got more than just the blood, since that bag looks pretty big and very full."

"Actually, yes," Naomi replied, putting the bag she had brought with her on a counter. "He gave me salt, holy water, a guide, a pan, and silly- I mean, serious string."

Elli stared at Naomi. "He gave you silly string? _Silly string_? Of all things, why silly string? That stuff is the worst thing muggles have ever created. It's terrible, it's stupid, it's total bull-"

"Wait," Helena interrupted the ranting girl, "I've heard about a lot of muggle things, but never this… silly string. What exactly is it?"

"It's not silly string," Naomi protested, "It's serious string."

"They're the same thing!" Kiara just about yelled.

"No, they're not," Naomi argued, "This is for serious matters."

"This can is literally titled silly string," Kiara told her, opening the bag, taking it out, and jabbing her finger at the plastic label. "Sil. Ly. _String._ "

"Guys, stop arguing over silly- serious- mediocre- whatever string," Christie told her two friends, "And to answer your question Helena, the string is this sort of rubbery substance that you can spray out of a can. It has a repulsive smell, and tends to get everywhere, which leads to some people not exactly enjoying it." At this she gestured over to Elli, who still looked cross about the string.

"Oh, it doesn't seem like something I would like," Helena commented, "As you probably know, I'm a bit of a neat freak, so I wouldn't like the mess it creates."

"Yeah, you definitely wouldn't," Kiara chimed in, "But as much as I'd love to keep talking about how terrible silly string is, we have slightly more serious matters to talk about. What else did Ethan say, Naomi?"

"He told me to try to pick someone out of the list that is either simple minded, or has a lot of motivation. Then, we should try a harmless spell on them. If they're the killer, they should wince."

"That makes sense," Helena agreed. "Since djinn are vulnerable to magic, that would be a good way to detect them."

"Amber is pretty lazy, but I don't think she's very simple minded. We can rule her out," Kiara replied.

"Mary is definitely a really motivated person," Naomi said, "She could definitely be one of the suspects. Maybe Christie and I could check on her later."

"Ok, so that leaves Cynthia and Riley," Kiara stated. "Anyone know them?"

"Now that I think of it, I have seen Cynthia a few times," Helena mused, "She keeps to herself and is usually pretty quiet."

"Do you think she's simple minded?" Kiara asked.

"I can't say for sure," Helena answered. "I think I'd have to check with the spell just to make sure."

"Okay," Kiara continued, "does anyone know Riley?" Everyone shook their head. "We'll probably have to get to him last, since none of us are Gryffindors."

"I'm friends with one that might be able to help," Christie offered. "Andria. She was the friend of one of the victims. I could maybe get her to do the spell without anyone noticing."

"That'd be great," Naomi said, "The sooner we figure it out, the sooner we can end this mess. And just to be safe, we can test it on everyone." The four continued to talk a bit whilst eating their food until the finally split up and headed back to their dorms. When Naomi returned to her common room, she saw someone curled up on a chair, stacks and stacks of papers strewn around and on the desk in front of them. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that it was Mary hunched over the parchment in a disheveled state. _This is almost too easy,_ Naomi thought as she made her way up to the sixth year girl. "Hey," she said as she approached Mary, "you alright?"

"Could be better," she muttered through gritted teeth as she hastily scrawled ink across the paper.

"Do you need any help?" Naomi asked as Mary angrily dipped her quill in the bottle of ink and spattering the table in the process.

"Nothing you could do," she sighed, rubbing her temple and furiously flipping through her potions textbook. Naomi took out her wand and tapped Mary's forehead slightly, causing her instantly to ease, her shoulders dropping into a more relaxed state. Mary shot her an inquisitive and slightly thankful look.

"Cheer up charm," Naomi explained.

Mary smiled and said, "Thanks. I think I needed that."

"No problem," Naomi assured, before going up to her dormitory.

On the other side of school, Kiara had just entered the Slytherin common room. Like usual, students were milling about, completely awake despite the fact that it was ticking closer towards eleven o'clock. Unlike usual, though, there was no intense competitions, no much shouting, and no little booth tucked in the corner with muggle products on sale. Kiara pushed away the foreign setting and quickly managed to spot out Amber's jarring and (in her opinion) obnoxious bright blue dyed hair. The older girl was seated in the corner of the room, fiddling with some kind of contraption in her lap with an unsettling cheshire smile on her face.

Elli walked up and sat down at the empty spot next to her and attempted to look casual. "Hey," she said, not meeting Amber's eyes. The girl stopped and looked at her with a confused and guarded expression.

"Who are you?" Amber asked slowly, tucking her contraption away from Elli's field of view and scooting a few inches away.

"I'm Kiara Blackwell," she said. When the girl continued to look at her suspiciously, Kiara added, "I was one of Elizabeth's friends."

Amber instantly relaxed and returned to her work. "I really liked Elizabeth," she said. "She was fun to hang around with and was really enthusiastic about things, even though sometimes I couldn't understand what she was trying to say." Kiara bit her lip to keep herself from talking. _That's not surprising, nobody understands- understood Elizabeth_ "It's kind of sad, honestly. We were close friends, even if she was a few years younger than me." _Wow,_ Kiara marveled, _I can't believe Elizabeth actually had friends. Shocker._ "Now that I think about it, Elizabeth had really briefly mentioned stuff like…" Amber hesitated. "Like suicide and self harm over the years I've known her, so I feel bad for saying I was kind of anticipating this."

"Oh well, I guess you were right," Kiara said, not entirely sure how to respond to that. "What are you working on?"

"It's a- I actually don't know what it is," Amber admitted, showing Kiara the contraption. It was a pair of extremely classy looking shades, but with miniscule wires protruding out of certain spots. "I was watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., this show Elizabeth and a few others introduced to me, and there were these glasses that could give you x-ray and night vision when you push a button. That's what this is meant to be. I think they were called backscatter something or other."

"Oh. I tried watching that show, but I didn't like it very much. Anyway, there was an assignment for my charms class in which you need to see what the charm _Sonorus_ does when applied to another person. Normally I'd ask Elizabeth but, you know…"

"It-" Amber blinked and looked at Kiara through confused eyes, "it just does the same thing…?"

"I know, but Professor Smith wanted us to try it out for ourselves."

"Just lie to him," she replied. "Tell him you did it anyway. It's not like he can tell if you did it or not. He's an asshole anyone, so lying to him isn't really that big of a deal."

"Ugh, this is taking to long. _Sonorus!"_

Amber stared at Elli, taken aback, before she narrowed her eyes and shouted _quietis_ as she pointed her wand at her wand at her throat. " _Excuse you_ ," Amber muttered darkly. "You should be glad I'm not as petty as Elizabeth, or I'd have you hanging from the goddamned ceiling."

Elli scowled. "It was for research reasons. Also, stop comparing everything to Elizabeth. 'Oh Elli, you're not as good as Elizabeth,' and 'Be glad I'm not Elizabeth' Elizabeth is dead, so please shut up about her and move the fuck on."

"Research my ass," Amber scoffed. "And just because someone is dead doesn't mean you should completely erase their memory. You should stop being a cocky bitch and actually learn what human sentiment is."

She glared at her. "Human sentiment is pretty useless in the long run."

"Gaining enemies is worse," she retorted. "And you're going to be crossing over that line in a few seconds, so none of your 'Elizabeth was my friend' cards are going to be able to help you bullshit your way out of this."

Elli laughed, fully aware at how reckless she was being, but not bringing herself to care. "Like I care about you and your stupid threats." Something in her mind yelled at her to stop, but she didn't register it. Amber's pale golden (and cat slitted, as Kiara just realised) eyes darkened a few shades and she raised her hand ever so slightly. After a dramatic pause, she snapped her fingers, the sound loud and sharp as it resonated throughout the common room. Next thing she knew, Kiara was suspended from the ceiling of the room by a thick rope tied around her ankles. Everyone in the common room stared up at her in awe and amusement, pointing and whispering. _What was I even thinking insulting her like that? Kiara_ Kiara cursed herself, _She seemed like a nice person, but I ruined it, like always. I should probably apologize when I have the chance._

"Maybe I am petty," Amber hollered, picking up her backscatter glasses and putting them on. "And by the way, Elizabeth taught me that one. A bit much for my taste, but she had a flair for dramatics." Kiara watched with a sour expression and Amber flipped her ridiculous blue hair over her shoulder and made her way towards the girls' dorm, receiving pats on the back from other students on the way.

 _Good thing I did taekwondo,_ Kiara thought, and painstakingly pulled herself upright to get better leverage. Then, she started picking through the knot, until she finally fell to the ground with a thud. "Ow," she muttered, scrambling up. "Well, at least now I know that it isn't Amber."

The next day, Helena quickly tried locating Andria during Charms. She had tried to find Cynthia the other night, but the older girl was nowhere insight. Helena figured she would try again tonight and decided that in the meantime, she would try to move on to the next person. She had managed to find her Gryffindor friend seated in her usual spot before class started.

"Hey Andria," Helena said, taking the seat next to her.

"Hi," the girl replied, her smile not meeting her eyes. "What's up?"

"I know it might be a lot to ask of you," she said, "but would you mind doing me a favour?"

"Sure," Andria nodded, "fire away."

"Do you know another Gryffindor named Riley Emerson?" Helena asked.

"Oh, yeah!" she said, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "He said that I would make a good chaser for the team if I sign up next year."

Upon seeing Andria burst of excitement talking about him, Helena suddenly felt bad about asking her to cast a spell on him. "Can you, uh, maybe to _Glacius_ on him? And then tell me what happened?" Andria looked at her Hufflepuff friend, appalled at the mere thought of having to freeze one of her older friends. "You can counter it right after!" Helena added hurriedly.

" _Why_?"

"It's a- a social experiment! Yeah!"

Andria looked at her, a suspicious glint in her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll do it just this once." After the class, Andria packed her things and made it through the rest of the day without to much trouble. When the free period came along, she found Riley lounging on one of the couches, a glass of water in his hands as he talked with a group of his friends. _I am_ so _sorry about this,_ Andria thought, before whipping out her wand and yelling, " _Glacius!_ " The boy instantly froze, his face locked in a carefree smile and his arm still raising the glass. Immediately after, Andria unfroze him.

Riley cast Andria a funny look before laughing slightly. "Nice prank," he grinned, "I had no idea you had it in you and I totally didn't see that coming." Andria forced out an awkward laugh and the older boy returned back to chatting. _I hope I never have to do that again,_ Andria groaned internally before going up to her dorm. She quickly wrote out a letter to Helena before handing it to Zoe and watching as she flew out the window.

Back in the Hufflepuff common room, Helena had a stack of papers in front of her and a thick tome from the library all detailing the theory of magic. She flipped through the book and scribbled down different notes, using little paper markers she made from parchment to save certain pages. Helena had long since finished the simple _Magical_ _Theory_ book that she had bought during the beginning of the year and it didn't help her grasp the idea enough. Plus, she was bored. Studying always cured boredom. Helena furrowed her eyebrows and looked around the room, ready to ask whomever was making the ridiculous tapping noise to stop. When she saw nothing, Helena sighed and went back to reading and analyzing the text.

After another ten minutes of the mild annoyance, Helena went to investigate the noise further. Finally, she noticed an owl pecking continuously at the window, and quickly unlatched it so she could get in. Helena took the letter from the owl's mouth, which was addressed to her. She tore it open and the letter read,

 _Hey, Helena. Nothing un-ordinary happened with Riley when I cast the spell. I hope you got the information you were looking for anyway._

 _-Andria_

"Well, that proves it's not Riley," Helena muttered to herself. She went back to her dormitory and took out her copy of the paper Elizabeth made and said the password. Helena took her quill and scribbled out, _How's everything going? I just got messaged from a friend and it isn't Riley._

 **Elli: I did a spell on Amber and I think I made a new enemy. It isn't her, by the way.**

 _Naomi: I checked with Mary. She's clear._

Helena: So… does that mean it's Chelsea?

 **(Author's Notes)**

 **Dear Reader-**

 **I just want to start off by saying im soo fucking sorry for the lack of updates at this time. My excuse is that both of us were busy af (she celebrates New Years as a** ** _huge_** **thing since she's Russian and I was visiting family). Reality; i was too lazy to do this and she didn't constantly nag at me about it. ^^; Still hope you enjoy the chapter and the story is coming to an end.**

 **-Luna**


	15. Chapter XV

The four girls met in the kitchen again the next day to go over the results. "So, we know it's Chelsea," Naomi stated. "Who do you think should go investigate? More than two people might cause suspicion."

"I think I should go, because I am a Hufflepuff," Helena pointed out, "I shouldn't cause any suspicion at all. I can just ask nicely and it shouldn't be a problem. The older students help us with spells all the time."

"Can I go too?" Kiara asked, "The spell I cast didn't exactly make me popular with a lot of Slytherins, so I'd like to avoid the dorm for as long as possible. Apparently, I'm pretty sure Amber's got a lot of friends."

"I'm not even surprised at this point," Naomi sighed. "Next time, just don't. I'm not exactly sure what you're doing, but don't do it."

"I don't know if Professor Smith will let you," Helena gulped, "and I really don't want to get in his bad books. He can be a bit harsh sometimes."

"Just sneak me in, or say we're studying together," Kiara shrugged. Helena pursed her lips but nodded.

"Ok, so we'll send the two of you for now. Try not to do anything drastic, just try a spell on her. However, if you spot an easy opening to get the djinn out, take it. You can have the stuff." Naomi handed the duffel bag to Helena. "Take some time to read over the guide. It's really helpful, trust me."

"Well, that's settled," Kiara said, `"I'm guessing you're not telling me to read the book for a reason."

"The exorcism thing is just in case," Naomi explained, "and it's not something I think I can trust you with. No offense, of course. Jeffrey said it had to be precise. You do the stabbing. Helena can do the exorcism when you fail at stabbing."

"I've been professionally trained at stabbing," Kiara argued, "I'm not going to fail!"

"Yeah, stabbing _humans_ ," Naomi replied. "I don't think any of us know anyone that could successfully stab a fully fledged magical beast without failing or getting harmed in the process. Unless, Kiara, you know Slytherins that can do it. Which you don't, considering you apparently got one of the most popular of your house to hate you in a single night."

"I mean, technically I do, but none of them would be willing to help me."

"My point exactly," Naomi concluded.

"Is there anything I can do?" Christie asked. "Maybe I could be a- a backup. And when you say stab, will it hurt the host? Chelsea, right? Isn't that dangerous? We don't want to kill another person."

"As long as you don't stab somewhere vital," Naomi said. "So, like the heart, the brain, the throat, and such. And if you're willing to go to the Hufflepuff dorm, Christie, you can be plan C; hit Chelsea as hard as possible with the frying pan to deliver a concussion. Actually, anyone can do that, but if you're there, it might be easier."

"So, we're good?" Kiara asked, "Because I have homework to complete."

"Wait," Christie said again, "who's going to be attacked next?" There was a long pause, each one of the four eyeing each other warily.

"Probably a hufflepuff," Helena guessed, "If she's repeating the cycle again, it would go back to hufflepuff, the house Chelsea started with, and has the easiest access to."

"Be careful then, Helena," Kiara told her, "I'd hate to have another of my friends die. Well, Elizabeth wasn't that much of a friend, just someone who put up with me."

"That was somehow nice and insulting at the same time," Naomi said amusedly.

"Well, I have to make sure that even in death Elizabeth knows how much she means to me," Kiara said grinning, "Now, I really do have tons of homework to do."

"Wait!" Christie said again, "Before Kaylee died I had this dream, where Rose told me that she was about to die. If I just woke up a little earlier…" She trailed off before starting again, "So, just be on the lookout for those dreams, and wake up immediately if they happen."

"Ok, cool," Kiara said, getting more impatient with each word, "Now if I don't do my homework, all my professors are going to kill me, so I have to go. Bye!" She ran out of the room before anyone could say anything else.

"I know for a fact she had months to do that homework," Naomi grumbled, "Why did she wait so long?"

"Well, since Kiara left, can I leave too?" Christie asked, "I'd like to catch up on a few assignments as well."

"Yeah, sure." Naomi said, "I'm leaving too, so I'm going to guess that you are leaving as well, Helena. Bye guys!" All three of them went their separate ways. Later that night, Helena went to pick up Kiara from the library where she had been studying.

"I can't believe we're breaking the rules like this!" Helena whispered to Kiara as they walked to the hufflepuff common room.

"It's not even against the rules to study together," Kiara pointed out, "The library closes in a few minutes anyway, so we have a good excuse."

"Still, we're not actually studying! I really hope we don't get caught."

"Helena, we're literally stabbing someone with a knife, of course we're going to get caught eventually. But if it's for a good cause, like, say, stopping a bunch of innocent people from getting murdered, I don't think we'll be in too much trouble."

"But, I mean, I'm pretty sure this is _illegal_!" Helena fretted. "Isn't that a full on attack?"

"But we're doing it anyway," Kiara shrugged. The two made it to the front of the Hufflepuff dorms, where Helena tapped out the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff on the barrels. "How do you remember that?" Kiara wondered aloud.

"It's a hufflepuff thing," Helena said as the two entered the common room.

"So when are we, you know?" Kiara whispered to Helena.

"I think we should get Chelsea alone, so we don't do it in front of everyone. I'm pretty sure she's in her dorm right now, so it shouldn't be too hard." Helena replied, nervously wringing her hands.

"Ok, let's go." Kiara said, and they went up into the dorms.

The two were almost at Chelsea's dorm, when they heard an ear splitting scream coming from the first year dorms. Helena and Kiara exchanged a look, before frantically racing towards the dorm.

The first thing Kiara saw was Maya, curled up on the floor, several fresh cuts on her arm, with blood dripping down and pooling on the floor. The second thing she saw was a tall, dark haired figure, clutching a razor blade, with a small smile on the brink of insanity. _Chelsea._

"Get away from Maya!" Helena shouted, her voice quivering from the sight of her friend. The older hufflepuff girl turned towards the two of them and her face contorted into an unnatural scowl.

Kiara whipped out her wand and tried to keep her arm from shaking. " _Protego Maxima!_ " she shouted and bright blue light burst from her wand, surrounding the three of them in a protective force field. Chelsea hissed and jumped back from the shield, her eyes narrowed at them.

" _What are you guys doing?!_ " Maya demanded, her voice hitching from the pain of her cuts.

"Saving your ass, but if you want us to leave, that's fine too!" Kiara replied.

"Kiara!" Helena snapped, " _Is it_ _ **really**_ _the time for sarcasm?!_ " She yanked the duffel bag off of her friends shoulder and scrambled to open the zipper.

" _The shield isn't going to hold up for long enough!_ " Kiara shouted, " _So I'd appreciate if you'd move faster!_ "

"The zipper is jammed!" Helena screamed, desperately trying to rip open the bag.

"You're a witch! Just use magic!"

Helena took her wand out and stabbed it between the zipper, torquing her wrist and wrenching open the bag. She scrambled for the thermos and opened it, nearly spilling the blood on her in the process. "God, this is disgusting!"

"No one cares!" Kiara groaned, "Just do it! Just _Shia LaBeouf it!_ "

Helena dumped the rest of the contents onto the floor, desperately throwing things aside to find the other essential weapon. "Where's the knife?!" Helena demanded. "It's not here!" Something in Kiara's brain clicked and she scrambled around in her pockets, throwing the pistol and the switchblade on the floor.

All of a sudden, the shield collapsed and Chelsea ran towards Maya, her eyes crazed and maniacal. Just before she could get to her, Kiara hit her with a back kick, managing to fling Chelsea across the room. Meanwhile, Helena fumbled with the knife, finally unsheathing it and nearly impaling herself in the process. She dipped the knife into the thermos before running over handing it to Kiara. "Don't stab the brain!" Helena warned. "Or the eye! Or the-!"

"Just let me stab it- her first!" Kiara roared. Chelsea slowly rose back and stared at Kiara before running back at her. Kiara ducked as the girl swung the razor blade at her. She jabbed at Chelsea's side, missing by just a hair. The two continued to hit each other, each barely managing to avoid being impaled.

"Here!" Helena lobbed a roll of gauze at Maya's direction. Maya lunged for the gauze and started wrapping her arm entirely with the whole roll as Helena hurriedly flipped through the guide book. The girl was greeted with crude cartoon drawings and comic sans size 24 text filling all of the pages. "This- this is useless!" Helena spluttered. "Why would Elizabeth's brother give us this?!"

"Because twisted humour apparently runs in the family!" Kiara said through gritted teeth as she continued to go against Chelsea.

Helena shook the book in her hands again and tried staring at the words again, but they all jumbled into one unnatural smile. "Focus, focus, focus, focus," Helena muttered, but her brain decided instead to turn into a complete blank. She looked over and screamed when she saw Kiara pinned down on the ground by the other girl. Helena whipped out her want and shouted, " _PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"_

Chelsea jolted, freezing in place, and fell down on the other side of Kiara, who sprang up on her feet. However, only mere seconds later, Chelsea started jerking into contorted postures, as if she were having convulsions. All of a sudden, strange shards of light burst from her body as she stood back up, blade in hand. Helena's eyes widened to the size of the moon. _Did she… break the spell?!_

When Chelsea lunged at her again, Kiara quickly rolled to the side to avoid getting slashed. However, the switchblade slipped from her hand and slid over towards the other side of the room. _Well this is great,_ Kiara thought bitterly, _I totally have everything under control._ Helena noticed her friend's slightly panicked face and kicked the pistol into her direction.

"That won't work!" Kiara shouted, panic in her voice, "I don't know how to shoot a gun! And I don't even know if its silver! Or lamb blood coated! _Or even loaded_!"

"It's better than nothing!" Helena cut in, continuing to keep Chelsea occupied with useless but time stalling spells, "I can't keep this up forever!" Kiara nodded before hastily picking the pistol and pointing it at Chelsea. A sudden surge went up her arm, similar to adrenaline. In the back of her mind, a cool voice not unlike a flight attendant, said, _**Please hold the gun with two hands.**_

"How the f- _bloody hell_ did you get into my brain?" Kiara demanded, her eyebrows furrowed as she clearly executed her stunning abilities to sort out her priorities. The woman repeated herself, saying, _**Please hold the gun with two hands or your estimated chance of survival will stay at 3%**_.

"Kiara, what are you on about?!" Helena demanded. "I'm trying to focus and you're _not. Helping!_ "

" _I'm trying to focus and the bitch in my head isn't helping either_!" Kiara snapped. She quickly adjusted her arm position and pointed it at Chelsea, though her arm was shaking more than that one time she had tried archery. Nevertheless, Kiara squeezed her eyes shut and pulled back the trigger, bracing herself for a loud bang like in the movies. Instead, nothing happened. Before Kiara could fully register exactly what happened, brain-lady said, _**Please make sure the safety is turned off before you shoot.**_ "What the _hell_ is a _safety_?!"

 _ **There should be a small switch on the side that indicates whether or not the safety is turned on. This tool was implemented in the 1900s to prevent accidental shootings and-**_ " _I don't care_ ," Kiara hissed, backing herself against the opposite wall of Chelsea and turning the gun to the side. She saw a button next to the handle sticky-out bit and clicked it. Suddenly, part of the handle came off and fell into her hand. _**You have pressed the magazine eject button. That is not the safety.**_

"Shit shit shit _. What do I do?_ "

 _ **Insert the magazine back into the gun.**_

"And how the _hell_ am I supposed to do that?!"

 _ **Insert the magazine back into the gun**_ **,** the lady repeated. Kiara scowled at the part that fell into her hand and shoved it back into the handle party thingy of the gun. It made a satisfying _click_ sound just as Chelsea managed to throw Helena to the side and launch herself at Kiara. The Russian girl panicked and gave a firm back-kick, making Chelsea topple over, before running to the opposite wall before Chelsea could get up. _**Now, turn off the safety**_.

Kiara examined the pistol and saw a little switch pointed at an engraved word; safe. She flipped the switch and was about to point it at Chelsea again, but brain-lady interrupted with, _**Use the palm of your hand to pull the slide to its rearmost position and release it to chamber a round.**_ "Simpler words, please!" Kiara demanded, trying to get rid of the plastic yellow diagonal tube that had popped up in her mind. _**Place the palm of your hand and pull the top back the furthest it can go, before releasing it.**_ Kiara did as instructed and was rewarded with a weird sound that vaguely resembled a _shhk click_. _**Aim and fire.**_

Kiara furrowed her eyebrows and raised her arm, pointing it at Chelsea's leg, before pulling the trigger, nearly hitting her head from the recoil. A loud _BANG_ resonated throughout the room, followed closely by the shattering of glass and two high pitched screams. Kiara looked up and saw Helena and Maya in ducked positions with shards scattered around them. Chelsea, on the other hand, was in the process of getting up, her eyes looking murderous. "Oh, well, that failed _."_ Kiara, said, shrugging. She never had been good at long distance sports anyway. Kiara aimed again and took another shot. Instead of hitting Chelsea's ankle, the bullet flew out the window and hit a bird flying past the castle. She burned through another six bullets, not a single one of them hitting anywhere near Chelsea. _Fuck._

Meanwhile, Helena had risen onto her feet and ripped open the package of salt, dumping loads all around the walls and in the corners. She stared at the pictures in the book, using her hand to block out the smiley faces, before using the serious string to spray a pentagram and the correct symbols. Helena took the squirt gun holy water thing and started spraying it at Chelsea, who hissed and screamed when the droplets fell on her. Helena squinted and started butchering her way through the gibberish written on the pages. " _Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos!_ " Helena shouted, looking up. Nothing. " **Why didn't it work?!** "

"I don't know!" Kiara hollered, whipping out wand and shouting, " _Expelliarmus!_ " The razor blade flew out of Chelsea's hand and out the window. The possessed girl narrowed her eyes at Kiara before lunging at her. _Why didn't I pay more attention to memorizing the self-defense moves we were taught?_ Kiara thought, panicking. She tried to grab Chelsea's arm, so that she could execute the one move she did know, but the girl ducked out of the way, and punched Kiara squarely in the stomach.

"Ow!" Kiara yelped, before ducking Chelsea's next move, which seemed to be a sidekick. Kiara could tell that Chelsea wasn't very well trained in hand-to-hand combat, but the djinn possessing her was. Which meant that even though the older girls moves were jerky, she still was bigger than Kiara and could overpower her quickly. Chelsea lunged at Kiara again, and this time she wasn't quick enough to escape. Chelsea dragged her down, leaving Kiara on the floor.

Chelsea loomed over Kiara, who started writing her obituary in her head. _Local girl dies because she couldn't remember any self-defense moves, even though they were a critical part of her black belt test._ Helena saw her friend and something in the back of her mind clicked. You call it stupidity, she called it instinct. Whatever it was, Helena acted upon it. She rushed over and nearly tripped as she scrambled to pick up the multi-coloured pan. Her hands grasped the handle and she ran over to Chelsea, harnessing her once-practiced quidditch beater skills and swinging the pan at her head.

The girl crumpled down to the floor next to the shocked face of Kiara. I mean, come on. It wasn't everyday where you say your totally unathletic friend baseball bat the crap out of some demon possessing a girl six years older than you with a pansexual pride frying pan like she's from Tangled. However, the brief grace period was interrupted by a terrifying screech. The two looked down at Chelsea, whose mouth was foaming like some kind of animal with rabies. A figure with strange black tattoos and a pair of horrifying blue eyes burst from her mouth and rose into the air.

The two scrambled form the djinn as it continued to scream and thrash, blue wisps curling off its fingers. _That is not what I thought a djinn would look like,_ Kiara thought. Kiara dove towards the other side of the room, where the switchblade lied, still dripping with the lamb's blood Jeffrey had given them. She grabbed the knife and flipped onto her back, launching the knife directly at the djinn. Somehow, just somehow, the world decided to pity her and let the knife hit directly at the target. The djinn let out a howling roar before everything around her went black.

 **Dear Readers,**  
 **Late again, I know, we suck at this. But anyway, when this story finishes, I don't know how often we're going to upload. Both of us are kind of wrapped up with our own thing. (surprise surprise we have lives.) She's got a lot of work to do, I'm working with a separate editor on other stories. On top of that, school's a bitch.**  
 **Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter, and I hope we get the next one out on time.**  
 **-Luna**

 **We're almost done. This story is hitting the last chapters. This feels so weird. We've been working on this since June or July and we're finally done, so yeah.**

 **We are going to have another story, (A Percy Jackson one) but as Luna said, we're both pretty busy so I don't know when it's going to come out, or even if it will come out anytime soon.**

 **Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be a special chapter, so be on the look out for that!**

 **Book Recommendation: The False Prince by** **Jennifer A. Nielsen**

 **-Lupus**


	16. BONUS

**Warning : Contains Spoilers  
NOTE! : Appearance count may not be 100% accurate. Luna tried. You can barrage her later.  
(She literally just tallied up the amount of times the names were written in)  
[Shut up nerd]**

 **Luna and I each created different characters so we do know some better than we know others. It might be why you see mostly me commenting on Kiara, and her commenting on Elizabeth for example. (um, bitch, i put comments everywhere fight me)**

 _Kiara Blackwell_ (586 appearances)  
Blood Status - Muggle born  
House - Slytherin  
Wand - Beech wood, Dragon heartstring core, 12 ½ inches, surprisingly swishy flexibility  
Best Subject - Defense Against the Dark Arts, but she's really good at dueling curses  
Worst Subject - Herbology  
Pets - Hermes the Boomslang snake (Chosen half because she thought the name was funny)  
Year - 1  
Patronus - Russian Blue Cat  
Status - Alive  
Hair Colour - Blonde  
Eye Colour - Grey, but due to reflective abilities, they look like they change colour depending on the environment  
Ethnicity - She calls herself "Russian," but she's really a mix of Latvian and Moldovan (Russian is easier to explain)  
Fun Facts - She is a parseltongue (though it didn't get explored in the story as much as I would've liked - Lupus), has a black belt in Taekwondo, huge bookworm

 _Elizabeth Collingwood_ (424 appearances)  
Blood Status - Half-blood (muggle-born father, pureblood mother)  
House - Slytherin  
Wand - American: Yew wood, White River Monster spine core, 11 inches, unyielding; English: Larch wood, phoenix feather core, 13 inches, quite bendy flexibility (she got two because she wanted to test the differences. both worked really well, but the one from the States didn't work with other people. -Luna)  
Best Subject - Potions  
Worst Subject - Transfiguration  
Pets - Elizabeth the III and Lukas the Norwegian Forest cats  
Year - 3  
Patronus - Bald Eagle for her first year (I mean, she's American - Luna), turned to Thestral third year  
Status - Deceased  
Hair Colour - Black  
Eye Colour - Really dark brown  
Ethnicity - Chinese  
Fun Facts - She attended Ilvermorny for her first year before moving to Ireland and attempted to make a cold brew out of firewhiskey

 _Rose Lynn_ (209 appearances)  
Blood Status - Pureblood  
House - Hufflepuff  
Wand - Cedar wood, Dragon heartstring core, 12 inches, brittle flexibility and English Oak wood, Dragon heartstring core, 12 inches, and slightly springy flexibility (She found a second one later in the year and it worked perfectly fine, so she kept it just in case one of them broke. - Luna)  
Best Subject - Herbology  
Worst Subject - Literally everything else  
Pets - Lucifurr the cat  
Year - 1  
Patronus - Mink  
Status - Deceased  
Hair Colour - Black  
Eye Colour - Brown  
Ethnicity - Chinese  
Fun Facts - She had this strange obsession with potatoes, pie, and all forms of South Korean media (like, I swear to god, she could literally run her mouth 60 miles an hour talking about k-dramas, BTS, and food - Luna)

 _Helena Greneski_ (157 appearances)  
Blood Status - Pureblood _  
_House - Hufflepuff  
Wand - Rowan wood, unicorn hair core, 10 inches, brittle flexibility  
Best Subject - Transfiguration  
Worst Subject - Defense Against the Dark Arts  
Pets - None  
Year - 1  
Patronus - Dolphin  
Status - Alive  
Hair Colour - Black  
Eye Colour - Brown  
Ethnicity - Indian  
Fun Facts - She genuinely likes school, is an early riser, and has near perfect grades (perfect child, amirite - Luna)

 _Naomi O'Hanigan_ (153 appearances)  
Blood Status - Half-blood (Muggle father, pureblood mother)  
House - Ravenclaw  
Wand - Elm wood, phoenix feather core, 9½ inches, reasonably supple flexibility  
Best Subject - Transfiguration  
Worst Subject - Divination  
Pets - None  
Year - 3  
Patronus - Unicorn (#goals - Luna)  
Status - Alive  
Hair Colour - Brown  
Eye Colour - Brown  
Ethnicity - Half Chinese, half Korean  
Fun Facts - She hates K-pop with a burning passion and can play the violin really well, somehow is able to be a competitive swimmer in the Muggle world despite going to Hogwarts

 _Cathleen Harper_ (114 appearances)  
Blood Status - Muggleborn _  
_House - Gryffindor  
Wand - Alder wood, unicorn hair core, 14 inches precisely, springy flexibility  
Best Subject - Divination  
Worst Subject - Charms  
Pets - Zoe the owl (we couldn't decide on a genus - Luna)  
Year - 1  
Patronus - White swan  
Status - Alive  
Hair Colour - Light Brown  
Eye Colour - Brown  
Ethnicity - Half Filipino, half Chinese FACT CHECK  
Fun Facts - Despite the fact that she basically eats three people's worth of food each meal, she worked as a young model before her first year (tfw ur character more perty dan u - Luna)

 _Joyce Lancaster_ (111 appearances)  
Blood Status - Pureblood  
House - Gryffindor  
Wand - Dogwood… _wood_ (yes, I am aware that it sounds stupid - Luna), phoenix feather core, 11¾ inches, rigid flexibility  
Best Subject - Care of Magical Creatures  
Worst Subject - History of Magic  
Pets - None  
Year -1  
Patronus - Borzoi Dog  
Status - Deceased  
Hair Colour - Brown  
Eye Colour - Dark Brown  
Ethnicity - Korean  
Fun Facts - Comes from an extremely wealthy pureblood family that actually considered sending her to a different school

 _Christie Lovell_ (88 appearances)  
Blood Status - Halfblood (muggleborn mother, half-blood father)  
House - Ravenclaw  
Wand - Applewood, unicorn tail core, 10 inches, quite bendy flexibility  
Best Subject - Charms  
Worst Subject - Flying  
Pets - None  
Year - 1  
Patronus - Brown Owl  
Status - Alive  
Hair Colour - Black  
Eye Colour - Brown  
Ethnicity - Chinese (if you got this far, I'm sorry for the lack of non-Asians in this story ^^; - Luna)  
Fun Facts - One of the nicest people you'll meet, she's polite to everybody, has a twin brother who is also in Ravenclaw, likes to solve puzzles and is good at thinking of new ideas.

 _Kaylee Meyers_ (56 appearances)  
Blood Status - Pureblood  
House - Ravenclaw  
Wand - Ebony wood, Dragon heartstring core, 12½ inches, swishy flexibility  
Best Subject - Charms  
Worst Subject - Potions  
Pets - None  
Year - 1  
Patronus - Fox (i like foxes - Luna)  
Status - Deceased  
Hair Colour - Black  
Eye Colour - Brown  
Ethnicity - A mix of Korean, Irish and Scottish  
Fun Facts - Obsessed with boys, very opinionated, looks more Korean than Irish or Scottish, and can be often seen standing up for muggleborns or half bloods that are getting teased, as she hates all forms of racism. (She was subjected to a lot of teasing because of the fact that she was Korean.)

 _Maya McCartney_ (50 appearances)  
Blood Status - Muggleborn  
House - Hufflepuff  
Wand - Holly wood, unicorn hair core, 12 inches, pliant flexibility  
Best Subject - Transfiguration  
Worst Subject - Astronomy  
Pets - A British Shorthair cat named Annabeth  
Year - 1  
Patronus - Chihuahua (not sure what's going on here - Luna)  
Status - Alive, just barely  
Hair Colour - Brown  
Eye Colour - Brown  
Ethnicity - It's a mix, but there's a lot of Italian lying around somewhere in that gene pool  
Fun Facts - Really likes cats and has eight of them at her house, likes pop music, plays the piano.

 **PM us or leave a signed-in review if you have any other questions or want to know what happened to our characters!**

* * *

 **Super duper special author's note from Luna!**

 **Dear Readers-**

 **Heyyo. That's it, huh? From a critical standpoint, our story is pretty meh. I think one of the main problems was the cast size. We tried a bit too hard to give each one of them limelight and if it didn't work, we killed them. Also, both of our writing styles are AGES different and our attempt at mashing them together went horrifically. Hopefully we can get our next story to the next level To small amount of youse guys who stuck to the end, THANKS SO MUCH! u We appreciate the pathetically small amount of support we got!**

 **If you still want these, I'm listening to** _ **7 years**_ **by Martin Hall**

 **Lots of love and best wishes from Luna**

 **.**

 **Well...that's it then isn't it? I guess the stories over. It's nice to know that all of our hard work achieved something. Writing this had been a bit of a mess. As you can probably tell, Luna and I sometimes have trouble agreeing on things, and as much as I hate to admit it, she's a much better writer than me. I'm sure my crude writing style made her very annoyed at times. I also thought that our villain was boring, and that we had too many character. I also had many more plot points that I wanted to explore, but didn't get to. Even with all that, I'm still incredibly grateful for everyone who supported us! Every comment, follow, and favorite we got pushed us to continue the story so thank you for that!**

 **Last Book Recommendation: The False Prince, By Jennifer Neilson**

 **Thank you all!**

 **-Lupus**


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